Zarra's Law

I felt obliged to Review this Movie since there is none to be read at this Point which is a let down, it deserves one I Believe.

Plot: retired detective with blood ties to the mafia rattles the neighborhood Cage when he discovers that his Brother's killer gets an early release from prison.

This Movie seems to have slipped through the cracks, which is a shame because it is really good. Now, this a routine mafia Movie but it has more layers than, say, Goodfellas. Although Goodfellas is much better it is still, storywise, quite thin. Zarra's Law has a lot going on with lots of interesting characters.

Tony Sirico was an excellent choice for the lead, he handles his character really well and puts his experience from several mafia/cop installments (The Sopranos, Goodfellas, Cop land, Gotti) into good use. Brendan Fehr stars as his nephew who returns to the hood, he does his part well as the Young hero, and not to forget, Burt Young as an old time mafia head.

Zarra's Law has a lot going for it: good actors from top to bottom; multiple subplots to enrich the main story; great atmosphere.

Downsides? Well, as mentioned above, it is a routine mafia Movie with less of a surprising ending. But it has high production values which makes you disregard this fact.

It is also a bit too short, Clocks in at 85 min. With such interesting characters and multiple subplots I Think 1 hrs and 40 min would have been better.

What to expect? It is not a God Father type of mafia Movie with lines like "he is sleeping with the fishes", nor is it violent like Casino or the Untouchables, and it does not have the enjoyable lines like in Goodfellas. It is neither, by any means, as good as these Movies.

But Zarra's Law has something of a modern day Boardwalk Empire and N.Y.P.D Blue/Blue Bloods feel to it. Qualitywise it is somewhat less good than The Iceman, Killing them Softly and Stand up Guys, but equal to Mobsters, Billy Bathgate, Hoodlum.

I give it 6 out of 10 due to its feel good touch, plot/subplots and characters.

Tony Sirico who we all know as Paulie Walnuts from THE SOPRANOS snatches a lead role in this Zarra's Law which also is about mobsters in a sense but it's very far from THE SOPRANOS still.

It's a fairly light-weight movie light on weight in every aspect, feel to acting and light on plot as well.

Tony Sirico pulls off one face throughout the entire movie, the grumpy retired cop look I suppose, which isn't all that fun to look at in all honesty.

Brendan Fehr is slightly better I guess but not enough to save the movie.

With a movie the length of 79 minutes you'd imagine you wouldn't have time to get bored, but this movie proves you can, really struggled to keep interest while wathching this and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Just plain boring.

I cannot understand why this movie gets such bad reviews. There is literally nothing wrong with this movie. Now it may not be one of the greatest films of all time, but before you contest me giving it a 10 rating, I am doing that because I am rating it within its genre/class. This movie is not a blockbuster, so you cannot have the same expectations as a blockbuster film. It is an independent and probably budget film. So yea its not as flashy and glamorous or exciting as one of those high production value films. And there may not have been as much action. But this movie is not the casino or something like that. The companies and people making this movie are small names. Its in a different class. Yet the writing, acting, directing, cinematography and production were flawless. Something you do not usually see among movies in the B/Indie class. And for those who study film and can actually look closely at the cinematography and writing and directing, and such and the art of the film, it is actually very impressive. The story is just great. The shots and the camera work and cuts are great. The characters are all likable when they are supposed to be, and unlikable when they are supposed to be. The cinematography and production are good. The actors may not be huge celebrities but they aren't bad and if you loved Tony Sirico in the Sopranos you will love seeing him again in a very similar role here. Though here he plays an ex detective who is mobbed up so its a more interesting role. The only thing that could have been better was the music in the film, which was pop music and I am not a fan of pop music, but it wasn't really that bad thats just a personal preference, so objectively I can't complain about that.

This film deserves a much better rating. Something closer to 10 generally speaking. Definitely a 10 if you are just rating it within its class and genre. It is definitely the best Indie Mafia/Crime Drama I have ever seen. Most of the other movies that are about Italian American organized crime tend to be pretty lame and have a lot of things wrong with them. This movie doesn't, and is definitely worth a watch if you like that genre, and if you also appreciate Indie film-making.