Vigilante

The founder of the citizens group guardian angels founded in the late 1970's new york curtis sliwa is the big brawling star in this near monological verbal cascade of storytelling, about why and howcome the guardian angels became the beloved and disliked guardian angels.

its an interesting film about the city of new yorks modern history, its crimes, gangs,mafia,politics police and the common citizens of new york.

its a bit biased and on solitary grounds as a supreme leadre once said, the grumpy old man on the other hand liked what he saw, and can recommend a view.

I'm from the 70s. I remember what a cesspool New York was in that decade, to a point that must be hard for younger folks to believe. In the midst of it all suddenly emerged the Guardian Angels -- a white-hat (make that red beret) street gang -- and the media just couldn't get enough of it.

So I walked into this one already interested and eager to hear the story. What I didn't count on was the one-man army that Curtis Sliwa turned out to be.

The guy's like the living embodiment of New York. It's not just the accent; it's the machine-gun delivery, it's the every third sentence in Italian, it's the goomba expressions that somehow manage to be sheer poetry. But mostly it's the attitude.

Sliwa reminded me of any number of New York characters we saw on TV back in the day: lightening fast, tough as nails, rude and sarcastic, but determined not to retreat. It's the portrait of a real, natural leader. Facing Sliwa's merciless pounding rhetoric, I thought, "I'd'a followed this guy anywhere."

That's how he built a defence force out of the staff of a McDonald's.

If you remember those days, see the movie. Yeah, it's one-sided. Yeah, his detractors don't get no time. Yeah, they probably left out a lot of stuff.

So what's it to you?