Hellgate Bridge

I have to admit that I'm a sucker for movies about New York street life, but that doesn't mean I sit through all of them. This one I did, with pleasure. Under Hellgate Bridge has plenty of the prerequisite grit and guns and that's fine, but it's also got A STORY. Actually a very compelling story. Surprise. Some substance behind the style. It's fun to find yourself actually wondering what's going to happen to these characters instead of wondering how they did that 20 minute dolly shot.

This is the type of film that gets shown on early AM cheap cable. It's an inarticulate thug movie disguised as some sort of heavenly message. With the exception of Melia and Brian Vincent, who play convincing junk addicts, the performances are paper-thin, as is Sergio's self-important script. The entire theater audibly moaned in disgust in one particularly revolting scene in which the villain humiliates his wife over a bar table in order to prove a violently brain-dead point to his unarmed enemy. Plot holes and verging on a dozen crying scenes make this movie banal and boring!

Ten minutes worth of story stretched out into the better part of two hours. When nothing of any significance had happened at the halfway point I should have left. But, ever hopeful, I stayed. And left with a feeling of guilt for having wasted the time. Acting was OK, but the story line is so transparent and weak. The script is about as lame as it could get, but again, stretching out the ten minute plot doesn't leave a whole lot of room for good dialogue.

The actor Brian Vincent is left out of the Biography, I don't know why: In a blistering performance, he plays a lead role along with the brilliant Jonathen Lapaglia and an emotionly raw and fantastic Michael Rodrick. I just saw the film at the Montreal Film Festival. It is an amazing ensemble piece reminesant of Scorse's "Mean Streets". It's dynamic, gains real power and leads powerfully to a thrilling conclusion. The cinematography is amazing and the directing top notch. This film moved me and the people I saw it with. I hope it can be seen by a large au

I chose to watch this movie because Jonathan LaPaglia (who plays Vincent) is one of my favorite actors. In this movie he plays a bad guy which is not a role he usually plays, but does a good job anyway. Overall, the movie had a good cast and was realistic. This is a movie that speaks truths about life, drugs, jealousy, and death. It shows how even though at times it feels like you're trapped and there is no way out, somehow if you search hard enough, you will always find a way out. "Under Hellgate Bridge" also depicts the fact that some people will never change, no matter what. Some people are destined to never change their ways while others are destined to overcome their problems and change their lives. This movie portrays humanity: the cruel, the vengeful, the greedy, the innocent, the weak, and the ones who fight to live a life that no one is determined to give them.