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KNOCKAROUND GUYS Send This Review to a Friend
"The Godfather" this isn't. Not even close. "Knockaround Guys" is a Brooklyn crime story that works moderately well on its own level, not very high, and that's about it. The plot also involves another one of those father-son antagonisms in which sonny boy has to prove to pop that he deserves the old man's respect. In this case, daddy is a hot-shot Brooklyn mobster named Benny Chains (Dennis Hopper), and his offspring Matty (Barry Pepper) was such a wimp at the age of 13 that he didn't even have the guts to gun down the informer responsible for pop's prison stretch. It hardly pays to have sons.
Part of the mob is Matty's Uncle Teddy, played by John Malkovich with vicious flair. Matty is involved with his problematical pals, and trouble brews when a load of money that Benny owes is stolen, and Matty has one chance to redeem himself. Get the money and show pop that he has guts. Also in the cast are Vin Diesel, Andrew Davoli, Seth Green and Tom Noonan.
Co-writers and co-directors Brian Koppleman and David Levien build a story about Matty's quest for redemption and the lethal dangers and betrayals in his path and that of his buddies. By the time the final bloodbath occurs, Matty can become his own man. The story spins out neatly for a film on its minor level, but minor it is. A New Line Cinema release.
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