I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Eric Roberts has one of the most impressive resumes I have ever seen. He practically arrived on the planet with an acting job lined up. He brought Paulie alive in a way that is so real, so raw, that I could taste the blood under his bandaged hand. Robert's character, Paulie, takes you on a wicked emotional ride with highs and lows so sensational that the viewer easily relates on a visceral level with such sensation that it is impossible not to carry Paulie around with you in your head for days afterward.

The Pope Of Greenwich Village is an excellent,underrated and overlooked Crime Drama that combines great direction,amazing performances from Mickey Rourke,Eric Roberts and a terrific supporting cast,a fantastic script and a outstanding film score that make The Pope Of Greenwich an entertaining and memorable film that is Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts at their best.Based on the novel of the same name by Vincent Patrick and set in the Greenwich Village section of New York,The Pope Of Greenwich Village tells the story of cousins Charlie(Mickey Rourke)and Paulie(Eric Roberts)two guys who have big ambitions Charlie wants to have his own restaurant and Paulie a schemer that wants to make money but the two have financial troubles. With no other options,Charlie and Paulie with the help of clock repairman and locksmith Barney(Kenneth McMillian)decide to rob a safe at a local business. When the robbery goes wrong Charlie and Paulie have to deal Italian Mob Boss Bed Bug Eddie(Burt Young)as well as the cops in order to get out of danger.Released in 1984,The Pope Of Greenwich Village is a brilliant Crime Drama while earning decent reviews from critics and receiving an Oscar nomination wasn't a hit at the Box Office and didn't get much attention from movie audiences at the time. But,thankfully overtime The Pope Of Greenwich Village has found Cult status throughout the years and is not only seen as a great Crime Drama but is also seen as one of the most underrated movies of the 1980s. I think that one of the reasons The Pope Of Greenwich Village has found Cult status and is an entertaining film is because the film gives viewers a different kind of Crime Drama that combines Crime Drama,Gangster Film and a Buddy Movie and gives the movie not only a incredible energy that keeps you glued to the screen for 121 minutes. What I also like about The Pope Of Greenwich Village is that despite having all of the trademark elements of Crime Dramas such as vicious Criminals,Gangsters,Cops as well as common elements including violence and betrayal,the story in POGV is handled with a great balance of dark and light elements with the dark elements being the Drama,Gangsters and violence and the light elements being the Comedy and Humor showing the friendship and antics of Charlie and Paulie or Paulie by himself which is funny and at times over the top. Another thing that I like about POGV is the authentic feel of the film whether it's the New York locations throughout the city or neighborhoods or the characters and their streetwise attitudes that don't feel forced or fake but real and accurate. The New York locations and attitudes of the characters at times reminded me of Martin Scorsese's classic Gangster Films such as Goodfellas and Mean Streets(a film that The Pope Of Greenwich Village is often compared to)and like Scorsese's New York City Crime Dramas,POGV brings you into a world that is dangerous,violent and at times funny and you are absorbed and mesmerized. The screenplay by Vincent Patrick(adapted from his own novel)is terrific and well-written with Patrick giving the characters dialog that is tough and gritty as well as rich and amazing with most of the characters having depth and power. Patrick also has great scenes in the film that are memorable and truly unforgettable and match the world and tone that The Pope Of Greenwich Village is showing. Like I said before POGV is a buddy movie and it is very true with the main characters Charlie and Paulie because even if the characters aren't always likable we relate to the two because like a lot of people in the world they are both dreamers and have big aspirations to get what they want whether it's owning a restaurant or making money. While Charlie and Paulie have problems with each other they are still family and care about one another even when bad things are happening all around them and it is the relationship between Charlie and Paulie is one of the things that drives the film and is the film because it's funny,real and true to life. The ending of The Pope Of Greenwich Village is amazing,funny and surprising and leaves with a smile feeling like everything will be alright for Charlie and Paulie in the long run. A great ending.The whole cast is outstanding. Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts are excellent and at their best as Charlie and Paulie,with Rourke bringing a coolness and charisma and Roberts being funny and over the top and the two have great scenes and chemistry together. Daryl Hannah does a wonderful job as Diane,Charlie's girlfriend. Geraldine Page earned a best supporting Actress Oscar Nomination for her small but terrific performance as Mrs. Ritter,Bunky's Mother. Kenneth McMillan is outstanding as Barney,a locksmith that helps Charlie and Paulie. Burt Young is fantastic and menacing as Bed Bug Eddie,a vicious Gangster. M. Emmett Walsh is great as always in his small role as Burns,a New York cop. Tony Mustaine is effective as Uncle Pete,Paulie's Uncle. Jack Kehoe is sensational as Bunky,a New York Cop.The direction by Stuart Rosenberg is great,with Rosenberg with Rosenberg doing a simple but effective job and sometimes moving the camera and giving the movie a great style and pace. Wonderful job,Rosenberg.The score by Dave Grusin is fantastic,moody,dramatic and light and matches the tone of the film perfectly. Great score,Grusin. There is also a memorable use of Frank Sinatra's classic song Summer Wind which is used a few times in the film.In final word,if you love Crime Dramas,Gangster Films,Mickey Rourke or Eric Roberts,I highly suggest you see The Pope Of Greenwich Village,an excellent,underrated and overlooked Crime Drama that is Rourke and Roberts at their best. Highly Recommended. 10/10.

Nobody would accuse this tale of being taut. It meanders around sufficiently that we get to know the characters, their families, their values -- and therein lies its charm. Eric Roberts is Pauli, the reckless Italian optimist, and Mickey Rourke is his more sensible, principled Irish cousin. The milieu is New York City and it is captured most impressively. These two street proletarians -- waiters and busboys -- ooze with the desire to own a Coupe deVille. Roberts brags that he never ordered a brandy that wasn't Courvoisier VSOP. Their ambition and their taste are palpable. I say this despite having grown up in the area without the slightest desire to live their life styles and lacking any intense affection for Frank Sinatra.Basically, the plot is a cross-cousin of "Mean Streets", with Rourke in the Harvey Keitel role and Roberts as the maniacal DeNiro. Not to suggest that this is an imitation of anything else. The writer, Vincent Patrick, has street lingo down pat, even to the smallest parts, and Stuart Rosemberg has executed it flawlessly. Even "mozarella" comes out properly as "moozarell." The two cousins alternately joke and fight with one another, depending on their position on the regression line between Robert's wild schemes and Rourke's more banal impulses. Roberts puts a "horse physic" in the drink of a ruthless cop. He engineers a lucrative burglary with the help of Rourke and a locksmith, Kenneth MacMillan, that results in the accidental death of a corrupt police officer, Jack Kehoe, whose only motive for being corrupt was to make enough money to move him and his sickly mother, Geraldine Page, to Phoenix in order to improve her health. (As I said, the script meanders, but meaningfully.) Geraldine Page gives a fine performance, by the way, as the self-destructive tough-as-nails street-savvy Mom.The money from the burglary belonged to the neighborhood Mr. Big, a villainous and revengeful Burt Young, who forces MacMillan to leave his family and blow town. He also removes one of Eric Roberts' digits. And just as he is having a duel of wits with the third party to the crime, Rourke, Roberts feeds Burt Young a cup of espresso filled with lye. The poisoned Young leaps through the storefront window and runs off down the street. The last shot has Roberts and Rourke strolling off, carefree, down the street, arguing about whether it would be better to live in Miami. That's a bit of a weak ending. Given Burt Young's vengeful nature and his position in the organization, I wouldn't give two cents for either of their well-clad behinds. If they wind up as lowly waiters again they'll be lucky.Well, I suppose I've made the film sounds like a terrible tragedy, but it's not. The street lingo and many of the incidents make it as much comic as anything else. One of Roberts' schemes has to do with betting a bundle on a horse that absolutely cannot lose. But Roberts' knows as little about racing as he does about keeping out of trouble. He's confused about which part of a stallion must be removed to turn it into a gelding. He's concerned about the colors of the jockey because it makes him look like a fairy. Roberts bets the whole shebang on a win, and the horse loses in a photo finish. The more prudent Rourke has made twenty large by betting on the horse across the board.It's a pretty good movie, full of well-drawn colorful characters and considerable suspense and humor.

The way to see this movie is the way I did. Other than Page or Kehoe I had no idea who any of these actors were. This imparts an authenticity in the character unfettered by the popularity of the actor playing him (or her). Since (and because of) this movie I look for movies with actors who are unfamiliar to me. I have seen much criticism of Eric Roberts on these pages but as far as I'm concerned he WAS Pauly. Love him or hate him, I can't imagine anyone better suited for that particular role. Pauly was a weasel and Roberts delivered a weasel. That pretty much goes right on down the line. the story flowed seamlessly from scene to scene and came together as one beautiful whole with a few minor exceptions. One of these exceptions being how upset Bedbug Eddie became when he learned of the tapes. It seem to me that the existence of these tapes would have been a MUCH bigger problem for the police than they would have been for him. They were TAKING the bribes. The other 'weakness', if you will was the ending. A little too Hollywood. They had just poisoned the most notorious dude in the Village and they are walking away arguing about how it should have been done instead of running for their lives. Only these few things kept this from being a perfect ten and I highly recommend it. Even if you DO know all of the actors.