The Brooklyn Banker

I had the pleasure going to the movie premier in NY. I was amazed on how well written the story line was done. Many talented actors & actress in the movie. I enjoy the movie very much and it had real life event in it like seeing the feast. Also shows how the family sticks together but if you cross the wrong person...watch out. All the best to all to everyone who had a part in making this movie, Michael, Frederico, are amazing men with a bright future ahead of them. For everyone else congrats on making a movie that will be in all movie theaters soon across the country all in time. I would recommend anyone to see it.

The Brooklyn Banker exceeded our expectations, especially with the excellent stand out acting by Garity and Proval.

The director obviously has a good eye for detail as the camera work, lighting, and locations chosen, transported one into a somewhat gritty looking Brooklyn in the 1970's. Hats off, too, to the costume and set directors for being such perfectionists in keeping every detail true to that decade. The realistic casting of the extras and use of locations was also quite effective in bringing that era alive.

The movie was well paced and built up by the good acting and story line which rang true. Refreshingly, it did not overreach.

Quite good genre/indie film with a Scorsese type ending.

Federico Castelluccio has a bright future as a director. I really did like this movie and it's story line, it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. But.....I thought the casting doomed this movie. Troy Garity is Bridget Fonda's son and from Beverly Hills, hardly a Brooklyn Banker. He was only average in the short lived series Boss, but as an Italian with deep Brooklyn heritage is no way remotely believable. He needs to learn how to become that person he's playing, he seems to much like a robot with little personality. He didn't even try to have a New Yorker accent, there seemed to be little preparation for his lead part. Paul Sorvino was way too old for this part. And the Secret Service agent was an important role, it could have given this film so much more intrigue and mystery, but again it was cast poorly, John Bedford Lloyd has been around a long time, yet it seems he didn't prepare for his part. The ankle holster was a bit different. 99.9% of law enforcement wears their sidearm on the belt, less than 1% might wear a backup holster on their ankle. However the ankle weapon did give me a surprise when in his other scenes we didn't see his belt holster, and then it wasn't until about his fourth scene we see it on his ankle. The rest of the cast was classic New York mobster types, but they've had lots of experience because they've all been in dozens of mafia movies.

From someone who grew up in the Bronx and Brooklyn, this film captures what it was like to live during that time. The Mob was not revered like some of the Mob Genre films I have seen in the past. They were avoided and the story of a legitimate guy who unintentionally gets involved seems very real.

I enjoyed the cinematography that captured a gritty but beautiful view of the area as it was starting to change. Troy Garity, who I understand grew up in California, captured the nuances and cadence of the residents of Brooklyn who spoke was was on their mind, were loyal to a fault and protected their friends and family.

David Proval played a simmering psychopath who was ready to blow at any moment. Paul Sorvino was great as the goofy father in law who is smarter than he lets on.

All in all, I think this film will stand the test of time.

I should note that I only know about the mafia from movies, so I can't verify or refute the depiction of the gangsters in "The Brooklyn Banker". Anyway, it had an interesting plot and an interesting set of characters. Still, I wish that it had done more to emphasize the era in which it was set by showing news clips from the era (Watergate, Vietnam, etc).

The movie's OK but no masterpiece. Mafia movies are OK to see every once in a while; otherwise they get repetitive. I'd say that the movie's worth seeing once.

Who ever would've imagined the son (Troy Garity) of people (Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden) trying to bring down Richard Nixon co-starring with someone (Paul Sorvino) who played a member of Nixon's cabinet (Henry Kissinger)?