Southie

It's too bad this independent production didn't have some of the advantages of a major studio. The camera work is mediocre and the sound level is just terrible in spots. I hope that the latter is the result of me having a bad VHS copy.

Southie is not the kind of film that the late Pat O'Brien would have appeared in. It's the story of the South Boston neighborhood, a rugged Irish enclave as seen through the eyes of Danny Quinn and his family. It certainly isn't all Irish charm and blarney.

Donnie Wahlberg, late of New Kids on the Block and older brother of Mark Wahlberg, is Danny Quinn. He's gotten in trouble with the son of one of the two local mob chieftains vying for control of the neighborhood. So he beat it to New York for a while and now he's back.

He tries to go straight, but because of the need for money due to his mom's heart condition, young Quinn gets involved again in illegal activities. His old enemy is still around and leads to a whole lot of tragedy.

This was obviously a labor of love for Wahlberg as that's where he and the other New Kids on the Block sprang from. Too bad his neighborhood wasn't better photographed.

Lawrence Tierney as the old mob boss from South Boston and Anne Meara as Wahlberg's mother give strong performances.

This was all under the direction of John Shea, better known as Lex Luthor, from Lois and Clark. Too bad he didn't have better production values in what could have been a great film.

Let me begin by saying that I have lived in Dorchester and South Boston all of my life, so my opinion may be a bit loaded. Let me also say that I have seen this movie before, 15 different times, all of which with a different title, the first and best version of this story being "Mean Streets" by Martin Scorcese.

The idea of people battling against an urban environment for a better life is hardly anything new to American Cinema. it has been here since the early 70's. It has been done and done again. There are great films built around this theme. Some of which will be very hard to outdo.

What is amazing is that the vast majority of scripts written by young men who grew up in similar surroundings continue to deal with these issues in less resilient and origional ways.

In this film Donnie Wahlberg's 'Danny Quinn' is the ultimate candidate for the phrase, "you can take the boy out of the (insert town here), but you can't take the (insert town here) out of the boy". Arriving home after leaving town for a while Danny is dragged back into the vicious cycle that made him leave in the first place (gee, didn't see that one coming). Try as he might, he can't resist the gravity of his surrounding and is sucked into an blackhole of alcoholism, violence, and abuse. Like I said, nothing original. The film does explore some meaty drama with the Quinn mother played by Anne Meara, then she dies 3/4 of the way though the film, so that's that. The rest of the movie is color by numbers.

I should note that the South Boston presented in this film is nothing like the South Boston of today. Yes, it is a mostly blue collar community, yes, the people there are mostly irish americans, yes it can be a tough place, and yes the people are very parochial (enter "forced bussing" into any search engine). However it is not the type of place where gangsters go around having shotgun fights, it hasn't been remotely like this since the 70's when Whitey Bulger's gang was in its heyday. While all of the negative attributes of the community and its history are examined in "Southie" none of the positive attributes are even touched upon. This does not hold true for the film "Southie" rode into cinemas and film festivals on the laurels of: Good Will Hunting (If ever there was true to life picture of a blue collar boston, this is it).

Take a look at another recent film about a different Boston community, "Monument Ave". Though this movie suffers from the same cliche problems as "Southie", it explores a theme that many of Boston's blue collar residents can identify with. Set in charlestown, a neighborhood which is known for its "code of silence", the characters in this film squirm as they see their once closed off neighborhood become an area of blue chip real estate for young yuppies looking for an upscale urban home. In "Monument Ave." there is a clear juxtaposition between the violent, troubled townies and their new neigbors. This phenomenon holds true for the real South Boston as well, however the film "southie" does not even touch upon it.

In the end it probably does not matter where the setting of the film was. The writers were from boston so they chose southie. It could have been the third moon of Jupiter, but it still wouldn't have made this film any more original, 3/10 stars.

I saw SOUTHIE at the Montreal World Film Festival. I was impressed really, there is no other way to describe it. This film is poignant and true to life. The characters are believable and evoke strong feelings. Rose McGowan's portrayal of a young woman struggling with alcoholism was REAL, Donnie Wahlberg's character Danny Quinn battling to do the right thing, when it's the hardest thing to do was REAL! Wow, you leave the theater with your heart in your hand.

"Southie" is worth a look. We have seen this movie before, only that now instead of being about Italian-Americans, it depicts Irish-Americans in Boston. As directed by John Shea, it misses the mark, but it shows a director who shows a lot of promise, as we already know him as an excellent film actor.

The film has an improvised look, which might have been the case, but we'll never know. The different Boston heavy accents stand in the way for enjoying it much more, in my humble opinion.

Donnie Wahlberg shows his usual intensity. Rose McGowan, as Kathy, shows she has the potential to do bigger and better things. As the Quinn matriarch, it was a pleasure to see Anne Meara, a wonderful actress and a great human being in real life.

Let's hope Mr. Shea will come out with a better film the next time out.

I was completely amazed by Southie. I was expecting a movie where Donnie Wahlberg was the center of attention and the action focused around drawn out, bloody battles. To my surprise it wasn't. The story line was interesting and the cast seemed like they were all meant to be together. If you can get past the "New Kids on the Block" Donnie Wahlberg mentality, Southie is an excellent movie worthy of the award it has won and many more.