L'honneur des Prizzi

So many films glorify the mafia, even those like 'Goodfellas' which pull no punches still allow a residue of glamour to stick to their portrayal of the wise-guy life. So 'Prizzi's Honor', which ridicules its protagonists and shows them to be anything but wise, is a welcome sort of mafia film. Unfortunately, although it's reasonably entertaining, the film ultimately doesn't wholly succeed in any respect; too daft to work as black comedy, too slow to work as riotous farce, to humorously conceived to work as tragic drama. Jack Nicholson is good as the dumb hit man Charley, but the plot leaves us unsure whether we should laugh at him or cry with him, and in the end I felt inclined to do neither. Personally, I prefer Jim Jarmusch's 'Ghost Dog', another offbeat look at organised crime.

I am not a huge fan of gangster movies even tho there are some masterpieces of the genre. And this was the main reason why I wanted to try this movie. However I didn't loved it but I found it just ok.

Charlie Partanna (Jack Nicholson) is a professional hitman that works for a Mafia clan led by Don Corrado Prizzi. One day he goes at a wedding and becomes infatuated with a gorgeous woman named Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner). They arrange a meeting and fall in love. After a while he finds out that she, too, is an hitwoman. And of course there is also the mob that orders them to kill each other when they have separate meetings. How it will unfold? Well, see the movie.

PRIZZI'S HONOR looks very good and it has a very good cast (Nicholson, Turner, Anjelica Huston in an Academy Award winning performance, Robert Loggia and William Hickey) and it also was a box-office hit back in 1985. However despite this I didn't found it that interesting and probably for two major reasons: 1) It could have been funnier (2) It's just not that full of action scenes as a gangster movie should be. Now I am not saying I hated the movie, but I found the plot very complicated and for me it was hard caring at all about these murderers. Not a must see despite being directed by John Huston, but just a time passer.

This movie is often good and funny, but sometimes 's not focused enough. The story tries to cover a lot of themes, genres, and plot implications which doesn't always work. The best parts are the ones which deal with Charlie/Irene complicated relationship, in which you never know for sure if she's manipulating him from the beginning or not. One funny thing was the homage to Mafia movies, such as The Godfather. Some lines really hit their targets, too (Well, it's not many if you consider the size of the population, comes to mind).

The acting is very good, and the best thing of the movie. Jack Nicholson plays an incredibly dumb character, that gets wonderfully developed by the end. He has a great comic timing. Kathleen Turner is very good, she has a great chemistry with Jack, and can look innocent and the moment after a total bitch. Besides, she ha a great, calm, sure delivery. Anjelica Huston is very funny playing mean / jealous / spoiled / manipulative/sweet, though lack of screen time hurts. The supporting are all great, and the one who plays the Don is hilarious, with his sadistic way of saying his lines.

The direction is simple, but has some original shots, it works with this material. It's mostly steady camera. The music creates a contrast; it's quite cheery and happy, and that makes the movie funnier. It's a very dark comedy in my opinion, and sometimes a romance drama. It's worth watching, and original, but not a masterpiece. 7.5/10

Once I had a little context, I enjoyed it.

It's not your typical mob movie. And maybe not typical anything else.

Comes from an author who writes satirical books about abuse of power. Known for The Manchurian Candidate. And this.

So this is a satirical mob movie. But the satire is watered down some in the movie compared to the book, apparently.

Watching it with that lens, knowing some of it is kind of a subtle/wry/dark humor, sort of making fun of the mob with these over the top characters and plot lines... It actually becomes quite funny. And fun.

And Jack Nicholson's character is well done I think. As well as his main love interest.

So if you can handle all of that...

8/10.

I loved this film when I saw it in 1985. To see it again after seeing film and series like the Godfather, The Soprans etc is a treat. It is a lovely film, elegant,well-played with a with lots of humor. Jack Nicholson pays the not very intelligent Charley Partanna with flair and a lot of humour. Kathleen Turner is beautiful as ever. The rest of cast is also very good. John Rudolph playing his charing but very dangerous father, Angelica Huston is magnificent as the deserted MaeRose who wants to revenge Cahrly but still loves him. The music is very much a part of this intelligent film. It is a joy to listen to how it comments or highlights what happens in the film.

It is a loving parody of the mafia genre. A must-see for any one who likes this genre and for film lovers everywhere.