Na Mira do Dinheiro

That's how Joe Bob Briggs put it when I first saw this film back in 1995 on The Movie Channel. In early 2002, it was on late night on TMC, and I got to check it out for the first time in years.

Still a great crime movie with excellent dialogue and acting. For 'Soprano's' fans, you will definitely love seeing many of your favorite characters pop up in this earlier work, many of which are minor roles. Treat Williams, Paul Schulze, Frank Vincent, and several others give great performances. The action sequences, consisting mostly of close-up gun battles, are a little hard to believe, unless people in New York are lousy shots. But the storyline and comedy bits definitely make this a worthwhile film to watch, especially for fans of mob movies.

I'm not sure why this movie was called Hand Gun. There are a lot of guns in the movie but the title is to generic. The movie itself is mostly forgettable and none are the characters are very sympathetic. It does have a surprising sense of humor. It is subtle but it is there.

Vincent Cassel is at the top of his game, scoring a half million dollars in a daring robbery and shoot out. Treat Williams and Paul Schulze play his squabbling sons. When the old man is shot by some unsavory characters looking for his stashed cash, Williams and Shulze each get partial information on the money's location. This of course smacks of Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach's quest for Confederate gold hidden in a cemetery, while being pursued by Lee VanCleef, in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". There is some sharp humor in "Hand Gun", and the acting and character development is excellent. Highly recommended. - MERK

Handgun is about as original as its title, but it benefits from a reasonably well written screenplay and a simply outstanding cast: really, how can you go wrong when you have Seymour Cassel, Frank Vincent, Luis Guzman, Treat Williams, Michael Imperioli, and Paul Schulze all in the same film? Predictable? yes. Enjoyable? Thoroughly. Mob movies fans need to catch this one.

I expected a good-guys versus mafia types, and kinda got it. After about 5 minutes, I thought the dialog was stupid, and the characters unbelievable. After another 5 minutes, I realized that it actually was a comedy, very subtle and understated.

I would have given it a higher grade if I had known that sooner. Whose fault was that? They have to take some of the blame.