Staten Island (2009)

I picked up this movie to begin with, because Vincent D'Onofrio is in it. I ended up loving it, for the plot and the storyline.

The characters, at times, border on being comical; but not in the usual way. What I mean by that is, that life is ironic and the movie mirrors the ironic way that life comes at you. Sometimes all you can do is laugh about it. The movie is full of twists, with a twist ending.

The characters, go through a series of events; that test thier mettle. How they react to the situations that affect them is what makes this movie special.

The performances are all top notch. Ethan Hawke made me sit up and take notice with the honesty of his performance.

Vincent D'Onofrio was excellent as always. Seymour Cassell was able to make you understand his character, though he didn't utter a word. Just awesome. I definitely recommend this movie. Give it a try. I dont think you will be disappointed.

Bought it because it stars Vincent D'Onofrio. As usual, he entertains. One of the best actors working today. Where are his awards?

The story is interesting although you have to wait for the layers to be peeled away. The writing is excellent and the actors all turn in solid performances. I particularly liked the scenes with Seymour Cassel as a deaf-mute in which the sounds are muffled or muted completely. Can't think of the last time I cheered for an old geezer with a gun, but I still wonder what exactly he does with the meat?

If you like the dumbed down "entertainment" of Adam Sandler or Mike Meyers, this movie isn't for you. If you enjoy an O. Henry type story with well-acted scenes, pick this one up. If you are one of D'Onofrio's crazed fans, you've already bought it and viewed it 15 times complaining about the stupid PTB at USA network the entire time. . . but don't forget to watch the deleted scenes!

Buy Staten Island (2009) Now

Short Attention Span Summary:

This was an "intersecting stories" type of movie a la "Pulp Fiction."

1. We see a mobster who is in the process of plotting to take over the business of his rivals. It is at this point that we learn that he can hold his breath for a long period of time under water. At the beginning of the movie, he is trying to beat some money out of someone that stole it from him (literally). He leaves because he has to go and see after his mother.

2. The mobster's associates try to kill him after a visit with his mother (the reason for which he had to interrupt the beating that started the movie) and his car veers off into a river. He manages to survive this attempt because of his underwater breathing exercises before.

3. There is a man and his wife. He is a septic tank cleaner and they want to have a child. He gets the bright idea to rob this old woman (who happens to be Mr. Mobster's mother) in order to get the funds to finance his wife's fertility treatment. Oops. Mr. Septic Tank is worried that the child will not be intelligent (it is painfully clear that he himself is not intelligent) and so the cost of the insemination also includes some way to ensure the intelligence of the offspring.

4. Later still, we are introduced to a deaf mute who works at the meat shop that takes care of the bodies that Mr. Mobster brings in from his activities. It seems that this person has a friendly relationship with the Septic Tank Cleaner. Later, Deaf Mute Guy wins a horse race for $47,000 (it seems that he lives a lonely life and his only outlet is betting at the race track from time to time). He knows about the bad things that Mr. Mobster does, and wants to kill him to make the world a better place.

5. Eventually, Mr. Mobster finds out that Mr. Septic tank stole his money, and orders his men to get the money back. Mr. Septic borrows the money from Deaf Mute Guy, but Mr. Mobster's workers kill him just the same. Mr. Deaf mute only finds this out because they send the body to him to dispose of-and he finds out that he was not able to help a person whose life he thought he was going to save.

6. Finally, Mr. Deaf Mute goes to visit Mr. Mobster at his mother's house and kills him and all three of the men who killed Mr. Septic tank (who were also going to come to kill Mr. Mobster) for a very nice denoument.

As a post-script, the Deaf Mute man befriends the boy who is later born to Mr. Septic tank's wife (who, it is clear, is very smart).

This was a welcome change after watching "2012" (the updated version of the "Noah's Ark" story in the Bible). A film like that had lots and lots and lots of special effects, but ultimately a very pedestrian/ derivative plot. This film, however, was the polar opposite. They did very good work with a very low budget.

At the outset, the film was a bit slow. And listening to the soundtrack, I wasn't sure whether this was supposed to be a comedy or something more intense (like, say, Goodfellas).

Seymour Cassel ultimately stole the show, with his intense acting. (And this is a testament to the man's acting ability that he managed to do that in a wordless role.) The fact that his role had no words also shows how carefully the movie was written. (For example, Jasper's red socks being used to identify him later in the movie. For another, the buttons that he took from the shirt of the bodies of which he disposed being a way to keep track of the number of times that he had done such disposals.)

This was well worth the 5RMB and 2 hours that it took to watch it. Highly recommended.

Read Best Reviews of Staten Island (2009) Here

Vincent D'Onofrio really does a great job in this movie in his role as the mobster.

But every other member of the cast is first rate too. This movie reminded me of the many b movie crime flicks that I seen that go all the back to the 1950's. A group of men rob a mob boss and it can't go well for them. Not that most armed robbers aren't eventually caught either but if you rob a mobster that's gonna be really a bad deal. However this movie uses a jump around format that you can still follow without being confused, You get the mobsters story , One of theives story and a mute deaf man played by the excellent seymour casel, these stories interact and they are the focal point. This is not a action movie though and the violence is done offscreen mainly except for some shootings.

It's a crime drama that's very much filled with characterization and it does not movie quickly. SO I would say that this movie is overall a good b movie but it's the acting that gives it four for me. Just like those great low budget crime flicks of the 40's-50's the stories were good but the acting was often great. Those movies were often darker than this, but this is a case of a good drama that uses the intertwined method to tell it's story. I liked it and wouldn't compare this to a four star A movie either. But it's a good b movie and the blu ray looks very good which helps alot. It has a few extras too that add to the package.

Want Staten Island (2009) Discount?

Definitely not your standard mob film, but if you can make it to that final scene I think you will feel rewarded. I suppose the main reason for most people to see this will be the landscapes and assorted footage of Staten Island. But if you get through this atypical low-level crime boss story, a single performance will stand out for Seymour Cassel as one of his best.

The story follows a small crew crime boss in Staten Island trying to make it big. Life takes some unexpected turns for him, those he trusts and for those who have stolen from him. Along the way we are gracefully rewarded with several meaningful story lines being retold as they overlap. A convincing performance by Ethan Hawke, D'Onofrio in a sort of cheese mode (he worded in his interview supplement on the BD as it being a comical yet serious role) and Cassel's epiphany character all culminate into a well made narrative about getting what you deserve no matter who you are.

The Blu quality is solid throughout with only a few grainy shortcomings, the DTS gets both subtle and varying usages (the deaf/mute character scenes have the sound muffled in a way to try and represent his world) and the main supplement provided some excellent insight from two unlikely sources; the extras include:

* D'Onofrio interview, 2:19 minutes. He has always been about letting the work speak for itself and shunning interviews, so this was the usual brief narrative about character and that's it.

* Deleted scenes, 2:36 minutes. Glad they were cut.

* Commentary by Hawke, D'Onofrio and director DeMonaco. I had a new respect for Hawke due to his performance in the film, but his wit/intellect were even more interesting to listen to as he recorded this. And for D'Onofrio to finally talk extensively about anything to do with a movie and film making in general was great. A worthy commentary if you are fans of either of these guys.

Region coded A/B/C, listed as 1080i with English and Spanish subs. Give it a fair shot and I think you might get a good feeling from that last denouement.

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