Mafia Love

Disclaimer: I am not a Stallone fan, . but I readily admit that Sylvester Stallone has made both good and bad films. This is definitely one of the former.

Stallone rarely gets any respect for his acting in the mainstream press, which is accurate rather than biased: if he were an unknown in this role, and had given an identical performance, the press would laud him for his ability to handle subtle bits of comedy interspersed with action and gun-play. But he's Stallone- with all the baggage that this carries, both good and bad- so whilst he should know better, his work in the light hearted flicks is quite often overlooked.

If I were assisting Mr. Stallone's career, I would have suggested putting this out in film, and keeping 'Get Carter' for the nearest black hole. The director of this film works well but should be shot on sight for one scene, where the Merc is accelerating from the garage and the cars behind are happily catching up.

Madeline Stowe has rarely been annoying to me, and in this film, one has to admire her (again) her for her amazing physical shape: she's beautiful, with a figure that a lot of current 20-year-olds round here could never aspire to! She deftly handles both the comic and the pathos of the script, in much the same way as Stakeout 1.

Nice to know that Quinn and Stowe did it again for the last time with a simple story about adultery and revenge rather than a simple story about adultery and revenge.

Rent it with an open mind. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Quinn R.I.P.

This is a story about a woman who is not who she believes she was. After a family boss, Angelo (Anthony Quinn in his last role before his death), is whacked by a rival family. His former bodyguard, Frankie (Sylvester Stallone), delivers a tape to his daughter, Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe). The tape informs her that he was her father and had to give her to another couple for her own safety, due to the business he was in and the danger she was in. From that point on, Frankie then began looking after Jennifer until he was sure she was safe.

It sounds and looks more like an action/crime drama movie at first but once she finds out who she is, that is where it turns into a chick flick. Madeleine Stowe was all right as Jennifer, but they could have made a much better choice. Jennifer Lopez could have played the role which proves it is a chick flick, but I'd still rather have someone different. Need more proof? There is a scene where Frankie tries to teach Jennifer how to walk more like a woman through demonstration.

Although it did fall more into the chick flick category more than any other, it did have it's moments to keep the men entertained as well. A few shootings, fight scenes and even a few farts for laughs. If I had to pick a movie that was similar, it would be The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis as the suburbanite hit-man, although Avenging Angelo was not meant to be a comedy.

I hate to say this, but Stallone is not aging well at all. He needs to pick better roles altogether. This was one of his better ones, recently, but can do better. Shade comes to mind as one of his better achievements of recent years and should pick more roles like that. He pretty much "jumped the shark" around Copland and he certainly does not look like Rocky or Rambo anymore, which is a shame. I loved those movies and would have liked to see more of that nature from him. Time waits for no man I suppose.

Another actor who did a good job here was Billy Gardell, who played Bruno the hit-man. He reminds me a bit of Chris Penn and I liked his character here. 6.5/10

Frankie Delano (Sylvester Stalone) is the bodyguard of the mobster Angelo Allieguiere (Anthony Quinn, in his last work). Angelo has a daughter, Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe), who does not know her true identity. Frankie was responsible also for her protection since she was born, and is secretly in love with her. When Angelo is killed by another gangster, Frankie gets close to Jennifer, since she would be in danger. Many funny situations will happen when the killers try to murder Jennifer. This movie, although predictable and with some ridiculous dialogs, entertains and works reasonably well on DVD. It is an average and forgettable comedy, but good for some laughs and killing time. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Missão Perigosa" ("Dangerous Mission")

If nothing else, the film justifies its existence for the restaurant scene at the beginning, wherein Quinn utters the above line. Short as it may be, THAT scene was cinematic magic, especially if you study Quinn's face as he delivers the words. The briefest of pauses makes you wonder if the reality of that line had momentarily struck him, fatally ill as he was with throat cancer during shooting. He died before the film's release bringing to an end one of Hollywood's most illustrious screen careers - one that spanned six decades. Restricted as the role of Angelo was, it was ENOUGH to say "goodbye" with, and with such dignity too. Quinn "conveyed" more in his ten minutes on screen here than others have amassed in a lifetime. He would have been delighted to be working, up to his last breath, literally. Stallone even, if you really look closely, appears to extend a real reverence to his co-star in those opening minutes.

I think to have any hope of either understanding or even "liking" this film, you would need to be over 40 with a depth and awareness not everyone has. It is NOT a "surface" film. If that is all you can see, you're wasting your time. There is fun, chemistry, humor- subtle and less so....and a decent storyline. Whether you view it as parodying THE GODFATHER (which at times it appears to be doing) or telling a less than straightforward tale of revenge...mafioso style, this film has genuine moments of endearing drama. Many reviewers appear to feel short-changed expecting as they were, THE VALACHI PAPERS 2 or THE CURSE OF DON CORLEONE....nor was this wallowing in the putrid wake of OSCAR, Stallone's last "stab" as it were, at portraying the unfunny eccentricities of "la cosa nostra."

I won't bother rehashing the plotline....enough here have done that. I would simply say that it is a great shame it went straight to video - Quinn deserved way more respect than that, and SO did this film. I agree with the reviewer who offered a 6.6 as being reasonable. Like I said though, you have to be able to look past the plot holes, the uneven direction and the oddball characterizations. Stallone and Stowe handed in some good work here!

Disclaimer: I am a Stallone fan, so this is not by any means an impartial review. Still, I readily admit that Sylvester Stallone has made both good and bad films. This is definitely one of the former, though not typical of his better work.

Stallone will never get any respect for his acting in the mainstream press, which is too bad: if he were an unknown in this role, and had given an identical performance, the press would laud him for his ability to handle subtle bits of comedy interspersed with action and gunplay. But he's Stallone- with all the baggage that carries, both good and bad- so his work is often overlooked.

If I were assisting Mr. Stallone's career, I would have suggested putting this out in film, and keeping 'Get Carter' for video.

Madeline Stowe has always been vaguely annoying to me, but not in this film. For one thing, one has to give kudos to her for her amazing physical shape: she's beautiful, with a figure that a lot of current 20-year-olds should aspire to! She deftly handles both the comic and the pathos of the script.

Rent it with an open mind. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.