Too many fans seem to be blown away

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Larry Bishop wrote three films in his career so far. The flashy but hollow Tarantino produced biker flick Hell Ride, the excellent pseudo gangster piece Mad Dog Time, and a little seen, mob fantasy film called Underworld. It was his his first effort, and it's a nice, bloody entry with some great actors and a dark, slow paced tone. Bishop has a very particular way with words that can be off putting and unnecessarily convoluted, as seen in Hell Ride. It's not for everyone, as we are subjected to extended sequences of characters speaking in cryptic, almost poetic passages, until it erupts into shootouts and long awaited physical conflict. Mad Dog Time is a little less dense, whereas this one is super compact in its story, spending most of the running time focusing on three primary characters just.. talking. Luckily, when you have Denis Leary, Joe Montegna and Annabella Sciorra as your three leads, you can make compelling work of little going on on the screen. Underworld takes place in the same flashy, almost dreamlike gangster world that Mad Dog Time did, and yet it's a little dirtier, as if it came from the other, nastier side of the tracks than the Rat Pack esque Mad Dog Time. Leary plays hotshot mobster Johnny Crown, fresh out of prison and on the hunt for a rival gang that murdered his father in cold blood. He slinks around dingy, dank urban street and dimly lit night clubs, embroiled in a spiralling plot that reaches pretty far beyond his simple need for revenge. Along with him is Joe Montegna playing a guy so mysterious he's got three different names, any or none of which may be his real one. Annabella Sciorra plays the tough moll and psychiatrist (!) Dr. Leah in that smirking, seductive fashion that only she can do. Other dirtbags involved in the whole violent circus are Dan 'The Iceberg' Eagan (James Tolkan, scarily stoic), wiseass villain Ned Lynch (Larry Bishop) and lizard like psychopath 'Smilin' Phil Fox (criminally underrated character actor Jimmie F. Skaggs, RIP). It's low key, it's different, but the plot is giddy, verbose fun, speckled with enough panache and vicious violence to keep genre fans happy.

Denis Leary has been superb in most of the movies I have seen him in, most notably Monument Avenue and the great Suicide Kings. Anyone who has seen Rescue Me cannot deny his acting ability nor his genius. In this movie, he absolutely shines. I LOVE this movie, but then again I was never a huge fan of The Godfather or any mob movie that didn't have Joe Pesci in it. If you like Leary, you will love it as well. This is a must-see movie for any of his fans, but even those who like a good mob drama, violent shoot-outs, and sharp, witty dialog. Leary is a mob guy just out of prison and looking for the killer of his father. He takes his prime suspect (Montegna, also with a great performance) along for the ride. Leary explores the mind of Montegna as he goes through suspect after suspect to narrow in on the culprit. Among the many memorable lines which I still enjoy using are "India's getting your 15%." Lots of killing, swearing, and some nudity.

I had to wait for the credits to see that it wasn't a Quentin Tarentino script. Denis Leary and Joe Mantegna were great. I would have liked more dialog for Joe, but it kept you wondering "what is going on in his mind", juxtapositioning the constantly-chatty, but not really saying anything Leary. I base my picks on whether I was entertained or not, rather than looking for messages or with a "critic-intelligensia" eye. I was entertained wholly by this movie and gave it a 10.

Although the movie was only so so the closed captioning was by far the best I have ever seen! Most of the time the spelling is terrible and the captioning out of sync. I use the closed captioning even though I can hear well but find a lot of actors mumble. Also many times the sound track overrides the dialogue. Thanks!