L'honneur des Prizzi

I loved this film when I saw it in 1985. To see it again after seeing film and series like the Godfather, The Soprans etc is a treat. It is a lovely film, elegant,well-played with a with lots of humor. Jack Nicholson pays the not very intelligent Charley Partanna with flair and a lot of humour. Kathleen Turner is beautiful as ever. The rest of cast is also very good. John Rudolph playing his charing but very dangerous father, Angelica Huston is magnificent as the deserted MaeRose who wants to revenge Cahrly but still loves him. The music is very much a part of this intelligent film. It is a joy to listen to how it comments or highlights what happens in the film.

It is a loving parody of the mafia genre. A must-see for any one who likes this genre and for film lovers everywhere.

I am not a huge fan of gangster movies even tho there are some masterpieces of the genre. And this was the main reason why I wanted to try this movie. However I didn't loved it but I found it just ok.

Charlie Partanna (Jack Nicholson) is a professional hitman that works for a Mafia clan led by Don Corrado Prizzi. One day he goes at a wedding and becomes infatuated with a gorgeous woman named Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner). They arrange a meeting and fall in love. After a while he finds out that she, too, is an hitwoman. And of course there is also the mob that orders them to kill each other when they have separate meetings. How it will unfold? Well, see the movie.

PRIZZI'S HONOR looks very good and it has a very good cast (Nicholson, Turner, Anjelica Huston in an Academy Award winning performance, Robert Loggia and William Hickey) and it also was a box-office hit back in 1985. However despite this I didn't found it that interesting and probably for two major reasons: 1) It could have been funnier (2) It's just not that full of action scenes as a gangster movie should be. Now I am not saying I hated the movie, but I found the plot very complicated and for me it was hard caring at all about these murderers. Not a must see despite being directed by John Huston, but just a time passer.

This film has fallen from my 1980's assessment of "brilliant" down to "really very good". Why the slight slope off? Mostly because I think it positions itself as a comedy, but it's not particularly funny. What it is is devilishly clever, with an amazingly black heart. I'm not surprised that it's adapted from a novel by Richard Condon because it's funny kind of in the same manner as "The Manchurian Candidate" (which might even be funnier).

It's best not to even tackle the plot because even this poster feels like a spoiler to me. All of the accolades back in the 80's seemed to go to Anjelica Huston and William Hickey, partly because I think they were kind of new discoveries and turn in great, really eccentric and mannered performances. I think Nicholson and Turner deserve more praise than they got. Nicholson's rare performance as a really dumb man is wonderful, and Turner pulls off a really sunny performance as a really bleak and duplicitous character.

"Prizzi's Honor" is one of those strange charmers that thrives on dark comedy and whacked situations. Mafia hit-man Jack Nicholson (Oscar-nominated) meets the super-erotic Kathleen Turner at a wedding and of course ends up dumping girlfriend Anjelica Huston (in a well-deserved Oscar-winning turn). The fact that Huston is the daughter of one of Nicholson's associates only makes the plot thicken. What Nicholson does not know is that Turner is really an assassin herself. Will he find out that his lover by night is really a hit-woman by day? And will he learn in time that the two have actually been hired to kill each other? Also along for the ride are scene-stealers Robert Loggia and William Hickey (who received an Oscar nod as the family's don). "Prizzi's Honor" was the final venture for legendary director John Huston (who was near death when he was Oscar-nominated for this). That little tidbit does not change the fact that "Prizzi's Honor" is really a strange experience that does not completely succeed. It is a movie that serves its purpose, but the ending does not justify the means used to get there. The Oscar-nominated screenplay makes itself out to be much more intelligent than it really is and ultimately Nicholson and Turner have to carry the production. Still a good movie, but over-rated and even a bit disappointing when all is said and done. 4 stars out of 5.

Once I had a little context, I enjoyed it.

It's not your typical mob movie. And maybe not typical anything else.

Comes from an author who writes satirical books about abuse of power. Known for The Manchurian Candidate. And this.

So this is a satirical mob movie. But the satire is watered down some in the movie compared to the book, apparently.

Watching it with that lens, knowing some of it is kind of a subtle/wry/dark humor, sort of making fun of the mob with these over the top characters and plot lines... It actually becomes quite funny. And fun.

And Jack Nicholson's character is well done I think. As well as his main love interest.

So if you can handle all of that...

8/10.