Homens de Respeito

There are not too many really good movie versions of Macbeth, in fact I would say that there are no really good movie versions. As an English teacher, I would really like to show my students something that correctly captures the mental deterioration of the characters and accurately illustrates the violence and cruelty of Macbeth. This film is able to do that, unfortunately, due to the language, I will not be able to show it in class. But, I was pleased with this version of Macbeth. The acting is pretty good and the characters are believable mobsters. I wouldn't say that it tries too hard to follow the play; rather, I would give it credit for sticking to the play and modernizing it in a believable way. Overall, well done.

William Reilly's "Men of Respect," starring John Turturro and the fascinating Katherine Borowitz, is one of the few genuinely innovative gangster films produced in recent years. Chronicling the rise of a very bold, but not very decisive hit man (Turturro, the film's characters are carefully and convincingly delineated, and the frequent scenes of grotesque violence are almost a diversion from the development of the characters themselves. Although Turturro is splendid as the bloodthirsty, but slightly addled killer, the film is stolen by the performance of Ms. Borowitz, who plays his long-suffering, titanium-spined wife. Other characters include the ill-starred mob bosses played by Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, and Rod Steiger. Other scene-stealers include three unforgettable "witches," whom Turturro consults for a glimpse of his future. If this is beginning to sound familar, it should: "Men of Respect" is a very faithful update of "The Tragedy of Macbeth!" A movie to savor, and an actress not to be forgotten.

What starts out as a well rounded, believable cast of mafioso family and associates and what is a pretty decent revenge story with lots of twists is mucked up by spiritual fluff, and a desire to be AL Pacino scarface by the lead man. The spiritual junk that has nothing to do with anything is just totally out of place. The free-fall descent from cold, calculated killers to loony tunes of the main character and his girlfriend makes no sense. Turturros girlfriend starts "sleep-walking" through their garden and talking about what they did is supposed to be believable? Clip about 30 minutes of hoo-hah out and this is a much better movie.

The scene with the gypsies (witches) came as a complete surprise, very few viewers would appreciate a small detail that just blew my socks off. In that somewhat creepy scene, there was a song/music in the background. What made it especially haunting was that it was being sung in Romanian, and roughly translated into English the voice was saying, "Throw the dirt on top of me (implying he is in a grave) so that I no longer have to see the pain and sorrow..." Little details like this made the movie brilliant -- of course, you may have to be Romanian to appreciate it, but still....

Some may say that the movie isn't 'Shakespearian' enough. But this adaptation was done very creatively and captures Shakespeare's themes quite well. It's even more interesting when you consider that Shakespeare himself borrowed and got creative with themes, symbolism, story lines, and characterizations from a much older literary source, that of the Bible. Consider Ahab and Jezebel, washing the blood off one's hands, the witches of Endor, divine judgment, all were incorporated in the story of Macbeth, and carry over into this film as well. This is a movie you can watch over and over again, and catch interesting new details each time.

Imagine the pitch: A classic tale of betrayal, murder, deception - taking power by any means necessary. It's Macbeth - but set in the ever attractive world of American gangsters! William Shakespeare's Goodfellas! The story does lend itself to the setting unfortunately it is very boring, poorly acted and no real flair or excitment that other gangster pictures manage. It's full of good actors - none of whom are any good because they are constrained by a poor script and poor direction.

Don't watch this - go to the theatre and watch MacBeth instead.