A Good Night to Die

I saw this movie at its premier at the Tribeca film festival. The director was in the theatre so the desire to laugh out loud was quelched, but looking back I'm not quite sure how I managed to contain myself. This was almost a good movie, the dialogue was good, the acting was good...the dialogue was good. The biggest problem was that it had many long, well written, funny scenes that had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. It meandered to the point where I had no idea where the film was going, and had already stopped caring. At one point the film stops in the middle of a graphic action scene to do a long, creepy claymation sequence that came completely out of left field. It wasn't a bad scene, it just didn't make any sense in context. There was definitely some talented people involved in making this movie, to bad that doesn't equal a good movie.

Not bad -- Don't really think it's a clone of Pulp Fiction, it's more a nod to Japanese gangster filmaking with the morality frustrated hitman with his dimwitted protege tying him down. Good acting from all involved, Michael Rappaport annoyed the hell out of me but that was what he was supposed to do, Gary Stretch was impressive first time seeing him, Robin Givens didn't annoy me as usual and the Ralph Macchio/Ally Sheedy assassin team!! They were hot, I could see a sequel concentrating on their bizarre hitman team easily. Good to see Ralph back, I had actually assumed it was somebody else till I traced his acting credits on here. Similar to Japanese filmaking the quick flashbacks/thoughts in the assassin's heads was a nod to that as well as the gritty New York landscape that didn't gloss anything in the grungey city. Kudos to the excellent cinematography The weird cutaway to the claymation scene also was a nod to Japanese films. Albeit could have been cut out it added to the weirdness. (Why would one remember their past in claymation?!) And that was a penthouse where dude had the chickens?? Au' vey! Weird but cool!

Not a bad film but wish the plot could have been tweaked not knowing what the hell was going on most the time. I concentrated on mainly the character development and interaction then cared what the hell they were doing concerning the plot most the time. Would have been an excellent movie they beefed up the storyline. Think, how original can you get these days after thousands of films are available! Good luck to those who can. I'm writing scripts myself and it is no easy task!! As for now, tired of main frame fair @ the local video store try this kooky little gem with no plot and have fun.

I saw this movie the other night at a friend's house. I had never heard of it, and had only heard of one or two of the stars, but I gave it a chance anyway. It reminded me a lot of Pulp Fiction, but this wasn't as good as Pulp Fiction. It had some memorable parts, but the plot and story were a little hard to follow at times. Flashbacks can be a good technique to use in a movie, but this film used too many. It made some of the film a little confusing and hard to watch. There's a clay and animated part in the movie that is just so out of place--I don't really know what they were trying to do there, but it didn't work for me. The acting was pretty good and I liked the dialog though. There's nothing here that really hasn't been seen before, but I'd probably watch it again. Despite it all, pretty entertaining. Check it out.

Ronnie (Gary Stretch) befriends jittery August (Michael Rapaport) and later mentors him to be a hit man. Three years later, August gets into trouble killing the wrong man who turns out to be a made man. Ronnie tries to save August despite the objections of his wife Dana (Robin Givens). He does work for Madison (Debbie Harry) to buy time for August. On the other hand, he's cheating with Ronnie's girlfriend and his ex Paige. Killing couple slash siblings Donnie (Ralph Macchio) and Marie (Ally Sheedy) are working for mobster Guy (Seymour Cassel).

Director Craig Singer is trying way too hard borrowing various styles. He tries to do superfluous funny dialog but it's nowhere as sharp as Tarantino. He uses quick edits, philosophizing, and time flashbacks but it all feels derivative. Sometimes, it gets interesting but the central plot struggles to advance in this meandering flow. Stretch doesn't have enough charisma to lead. Macchio and Sheedy have a great nostalgia factor. Overall, this tries too much and ends up with a bit of a mess.

While I was reluctant at first, my friend convinced me to rent this film. This film was one of the best I've seen this year. The acting was fantastic, the story kept me guessing and the directing was tight yet imaginative. This is the kind of filmmaker that I'd like to follow. I rented Craig Singers first film "Animal Room" it was real good but too dark for me.

I also heard about a film called Dead Dogs Lie but have had no luck in finding. read he is working on a horror film and I'll definitely check that out. I recommend this film for anyone who wants to see a true indie classic.