Brooklyn Rules

What a movie! It is like a Bronx Tale meets Stand By Me. A Romeo & Juliet/ West Side Story Combo. From the streets of Brooklyn to the streets of Manhattan. Three friends follow their dream. One follows the path of the street; the wannabe gangster. Another follows the path out of the streets/college. And one lost soul is just happy to be the blue collar regular guy. A love story; a story about friendship and loyalty. Freddie Prinze Jr. is fantastic; as is Mena Suvari. Scott Caan reminds us so much of his father in this role. Jerry Ferrara's break out big screen role. Michael Corrente outdid himself with this masterpiece. He has Alec Baldwin back in another good role. And check out the non-speaking doorman; his expressions are priceless. A must see film!

This film was written by Terence Winter, one of the driving forces behind the Sopranos TV series and, given the reputation of that show (which I have to admit to never having seen), I was quite surprised by the routine nature of this film. Freddie Prinze Jr. finds himself out of his depth as Michael, a Brooklyn kid half-scamming his way through law school while trying to avoid becoming sucked into the mob life so adored by Carmine (Scott Caan), one of his closest friends.

Much of the problem lies with the fact that everything that happens here we have seen before in better, more original gangster flicks. The story is OK, but the script rarely rises above the pedestrian and, despite some rather clumsy attempts to insert a number of 80s pop culture references there is no real feeling for time or place. Alec Baldwin, who appears as the local mob ruler is by far the best thing about this film. In fact, Baldwin's pretty good in everything he does these days, having successfully negotiated the thorny transition from leading man to character actor without falling foul of the pitfalls encountered by some of his contemporaries. The best scenes in the film are the ones in which he appears and aren't just the most violent incidents. There is more insight into the workings of the mob in the scene in which Baldwin sits down with another gangster to iron out a few issues between Michael and the local mob psycho than there is in the beatings and shootings, etc.

Scott Caan is memorable, but it's difficult to be sure whether it is because he gives a good performance in his own right or because in a number of scenes he is so reminiscent of his father playing Sonny Corleone.

While there's nothing new here, the picture is entertaining enough and is a relatively painless experience.

Coming off of last years nearly perfect The Departed which cast a huge shadow in how good mob movies have to be or how great every actor was compared to this indie flick. I think every actor in this film was very good and engaging, you feel the friendship between the three main characters and Alec Baldwin is always dead on in his rendition of a ruthless mob boss, if you don't like him i would rent The Cooler with William H Macy which he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor. All in this movie is worth 10 dollars, its got a great cast and story that you may remember from the news of the 1980s Growing up in NY as a kid this movie hits home, hearing about Paul Castellano getting in front of Sparks Steakhouse was one of the most insane things to see on TV. John Gotti was a ruthless killer and he wanted everyone to know, he flaunted it to the point where he killed dozens of people for years. He would walk to the courthouse on charges weekly in his three thousand dollar suit nobody could touch him. This is why this movie is special, it captures that feeling of how it came down to an all out mob war on the streets of NY and how it was growing up in the midst of it-60s and 70s have been done. The 80s is when every move these guys made was front page news. I was lucky enough to catch this in the theater and i must say i was highly entertained. Maybe its from being a big mob movie fan or an entourage fan or just a fan of quality characters and acting, either way its fun to watch three guys from Brooklyn grow up trying to keep their nose clean in those mean Brooklyn streets of the 1980s. I just wish this movie went wide release because it was a film that had a huge cast and setting that it would have scored big with a lot of moviegoers-like the scarface generation who all think they are gangsta!

If I had to sum up this movie it would have to include a mixture of Boondock Saints, A Bronx Tale and a little taste of Goodfellas all rolled into one to create BROOKLYN RULES...the cast was awesome the storyline was as truthful as you can get and the movie had it's moments of comedy and others of reflection....I would give this movie a 10 out of 10 and I hope that more people get to see this movie which without the hype will gain it's legion of viewers by word of mouth...those are the best kind of movies in my opinion the ones that just spread like a tidal wave without the pomp and circumstance but still end up being all-time classics or at least achieve Cult Status.

Went to a screening last night and was blown away. Michael Corrente is the kind of director that is in short supply these days. With all the garbage coming out of Hollywood, he has resisted the temptation to head west and make more $ and has instead stuck to his roots. Brooklyn Rules is a powerful independent film with a very realistic take on the coming of age genre. The cast is top notch. The stars and supporting characters ring incredibly true. I'm not going to list all the names (and there are some of the top actors out there) but just look at the credits and know that each of the actors did some of his/her best work to date. Scenes of the three best friends growing together are inter-cut with elements of harrowing violence and blossoming love. The total effect is one that left me wondering why so few films have the balance of Brooklyn Rules. So many are all out in one direction. Hyper violence- or total sex for 90 minutes. This movie has classical composition and pacing yet is completely original in it's own way. A harrowing portrait of learning the horrors of the modern city life. The soundtrack is amazing on its own. Kudos to all involved- Great job!