10th & Wolf

Tommy (James Marsden) is a Marine threatened with prison after a drunken fight during the Gulf War. It's 1991. Unscrupulous FBI Agent Horvath (Brian Dennehy) recruits him as a confidential informer. His family is connected to the Philadelphia mafia. Mob boss Matty Matello (Dennis Hopper) has been assassinated and Tommy's beloved cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) is the new leader. The New York mob is looking to take over.

This is second tier gangster flick. It feels like it. It looks like it. The filmmaking is strictly second tier level. Marsden is not quite mobster material. I guess that Tommy is not a mobster but it would be better to have some buried mobster within him. Marsden can't do that. Brad Renfro could have done it better. The saving grace of this movie is Ribisi. He is the definition of unstable and is a great mini-Hopper. At the end of the day, this is very derivative and a lesser version of better movies. I do still like me some Ribisi.

I was not at the special screening in Orange County but got to see this movie under special circumstances. To me, this movie was about five elements from being great. Having said that, though, I would definitely recommend other people to see it because the project as a whole is worth it and it pays off in the end. James Marsden was excellent. Giovanni Ribisi was near excellent. Some of the other actors did very good jobs with their parts. The story itself was also compelling. What didn't ring true to me were Warren's performance. . .totally miscast and an average performance, the cameos of Tommy Lee and Val Kilmer were distracting and unneeded, Brad Renfro was good in any one scene but from scene to scene his character was not consistent. . .one scene he seemed normal and the next he seemed like Rain Man, the dialogue had a few too many clichés, and the movie did not completely capture the period of the early 1990's or, in flashbacks, the mid-80's. Had all of these things been just a little better a 9 out of 10 would have been easily attained. Still I plan to recommend it to other people because this movie will emotionally move you.

Robert Moresco ('Crash') is proving to be a fine storyteller with a definite style of his own. 10TH & WOLF, written by both Moresco and Allan Steele and directed by Moresco appears on the shelves of DVDs as one of those films that makes us wonder why it didn't do well on the theater screens: it is well written, beautifully directed, has a cast that is consistently fine, and unravels a family involved in organized crime theme as well as any movie out there.

Moresco very wisely starts his story in the burning oil fields of Kuwait during Desert Storm where Marine sargeant Tommy (James Marsden, doing his finest work since his brilliant portrayal in THE 24TH HOUR) drives his Hummer through the desert, coming to grips with the absurdity of war, a key turn in his personality causing him to be dishonorably discharged for his refusal to take part in that ridiculous war game. He is given a deal: FBI agents Horvath (Brian Dennehy) and Thornton (Leo Rossi) visit his cell stateside and offer him clemency if he helps them capture a big drug dealer Reggio (Francesco Salvi) in Tommy's hometown of Philadelphia. Tommy had escaped the organized crime scene by joining the Marines, but is suddenly returned to his family occupation as an undercover agent with a wire. Tommy's brother Vincent (Brad Renfro) and his cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) welcome his return and begin plotting ways to off Reggio. Beatings and murders begin to occur: Joey is a bit on the mad side and plunges his boys into messes that become like quicksand. How the family bonds over losses to big crime and vendettas, and how that lifestyle affects parents (Lesley Ann Warren) and victims turned girlfriends (Piper Perabo) leaving the drive to survive as the paramount goal is the run of the plot.

There are plenty of cameos (Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Dash Mihok etc) to round out the dark atmosphere, but the strength of the film lies strongly on the shoulders of Marsden, Ribisi and Renfro and they handle their roles exceptionally well. This is yet another big crime story but one that grips the audience's attention and holds it to the final twisted end. Strong violence and language, but a testy and tightly woven story with many unspoken metaphors. Grady Harp

I was surprised at how much I liked this film, being that I had never heard of it. The story focuses on Tommy (James Marsden), who has just come home from the army, but he's now undercover (working for Brian Dennehey), to bring down the gangsters he grew up. He comes home to see his brother Vincent (Brad Renfro) and his cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi), and the story goes from there. I won't go into any more detail at the sake of not ruining the film, but it's very good. If you enjoy a good gangster film, then this is the one for you. I am giving it an 8 out of 10. Also notice certain celeb cameos, such as Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee, an d Dennis Hopper.

This is one of those films that gives the impression it is written by someone who is more a fan of the genre than a practitioner. It contains all the usual elements found in these 'tough' and 'gritty' crime dramas – the questionable loyalty between hoods who have grown up together on the mean streets of the city's slums, the psychotic gangster, the tough but vulnerable single mum, the doting mother, the sleazy clubs, the random acts of violence, the pop music soundtrack – but never once comes close to showing any signs of originality.

James Marsden – as anonymous a leading man as you are ever likely to find – plays the son of a mobster drummed out of the marines for stealing a jeep and going after Saddam on his own when the US call off the Gulf War on the dictator's doorstep back in '91. He is offered a deal by shady cop Brian Dennehy (looking surprisingly trim but worryingly frail) to help put away a mobster from his old neighbourhood in return for his freedom from military prison. Returning to his old haunts, he falls in with his slightly feeble-minded brother and his cousin – ably played by Giovanni Ribisi – who is about to embark on a gang war with the mobster in question, which leads to the usual conflict of loyalties.

After watching this I wondered not only why I bothered watching it through to its inevitable conclusion, but also why anybody bothered putting up the money for it. The script is pedestrian at best, and the storyline never wavers from a path that is as predictable as it is dull. Only the quality of the acting, and especially a blistering performance from Ribisi, make this worth watching at all. Well – that and the unintentionally hilarious death scene of one-legged gangster, Julian.