UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Scott LeBrun Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts are well matched in this nicely directed, acted, and written character study / drama. The characters they create are definitely memorable and the situations in which they find themselves are compelling. Scripted by Vincent Patrick from his own novel, it's simply fine storytelling that keeps its grip for two solid hours.Rourke plays Charlie, a regular Joe whose loyalty to his screw-up cousin Paulie (Roberts) gets him into all sorts of trouble. Paulies' schemes get Charlie fired from his job, and when Paulie draws Charlie into a plan to steal some money, he doesn't tell him from whom they're stealing. And that man is Bed Bug Eddie (Burt Young), a mafia boss who is understandably going to be more than a little angry.There are all sorts of interesting characters in this involving, heavily layered story, and the film has a hell of a phenomenal cast as well, full of incredibly good character actors. Among the many familiar faces are Kenneth McMillan (endearing as the third participant in the robbery), Tony Musante, M. Emmet Walsh, Jack Kehoe, Philip Bosco, Val Avery, Joe Grifasi, Tony DiBenedetto, John Finn, Ed O'Ross, Frank Vincent, Anna Levine, and William Duell. They're all entertaining to watch, but Geraldine Page is especially riveting as the mother of a corrupt detective. Her scenes are the best in the film.Roberts - who totally rocks a perm hairdo - really goes all out sometimes in his performance; one can't accuse this guy of phoning it in. Rourke, overall more restrained, is quite likable; Daryl Hannah isn't bad as Rourkes' frustrated girlfriend.Director Stuart Rosenberg ("Cool Hand Luke") has a great feel for the neighbourhood in his handling of the material. And Patrick injects some amusing comedy bits - such as Paulies' revenge against a portly parking patrol officer - into the story that provide some counterpoint to the drama. The denouement really is too abrupt, but on the whole this is a really enjoyable tale worth catching for fans of the performers and genre.Eight out of 10.

antmane The story of two unlucky cousins inspired to do anything to obtain a little lucky success, set against an odd, yet lovable soundtrack.Rourke describes this film as the one 'he had the most fun working on', a film which precedes his turbulent career downfall and his sad loss of beauty. Eric Roberts, Julia's once-estranged brother plays the role of Paulie, a dumb, easily led yet strangely likable character who's echoes of 'Charleeee' will be inprinted in your mind every time you think of this film. This is the first 80s film I have seen featuring Daryl Hannah, in fact the first film other than the Kill Bill films I have seen her in. Her looks and figure in the 1980s were darn near perfection, how she didn't break out into a full on A-Lister based on natural looks alone baffles me.Ultimately there is something I find fascinating about watching Mickey Rourke 1980s films, perhaps it is because he was so near to full blown stardom before he ruined it all, perhaps it is the surprise at just how ugly he has managed to become, to the point of being virtually unrecognizable.Overall The Pope of Greenwich Village is a film featuring two rogues who you cant help but love with a storyline you should really hate, but somehow end up loving. So the same applies to the soundtrack, the cast and everything else involved in the film then...

Robert J. Maxwell 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.

merklekranz This movie has more heart than "Mean Streets" or "Goodfellas" . Unfortunately, "The Pope of Greenwich Village" is often overlooked or forgotten. Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts deliver career-best performances. The supporting cast, with the exception of Daryl Hannah, is near perfect. From Charlie and Paulie's check scams, and even when they progress to big time thieves, nothing can shake their loyalty. If you enjoy small time mob films, "The Pope of Greenwich Village" is well acted, with a great script. This two hour movie flies by leaving the viewer wishing for more. A great night's entertainment. Highly recommended. - MERK