Organized Crime 101

A fairly-true telling of the birth of 20th Century New York City organized crime that, as such, qualifies as worthy viewing.

The film could have been a dramatic classic--instead of being mostly forgotten--had it been directed by proven talent, instead of being entrusted to Karbelnikoff, whose only experience was shooting TV commercials.

Given his background, it's not surprising he thought the lead actors should be pretty boys before solid dramatic talent. Or that viewer interest in gangster films derives mainly from gore and bloodshed. Or that when Lucky Luciano and his lover canoodled they looked like a Calvin Klein ad. Or that pretty palettes are central to cinema success.

Still, there's no other film that clearly tells the details of how The Five Families were formed out of the street gangs of early 20th Century New York unless you wade through some History Channel products.

The only real delivery on deck is Quinn as the capo under siege. Karbelnikoff might have learned something from seeing what Quinn could do, but since he was never entrusted with a script again, that's a moot point.

Oh well, it was nice that Karbelnikoff took the time to show the audience close-up how to properly make Italian espresso using a Bialetti Moka Express.

For the true-enough basic plotline, recommended.

Nicholson delivers a colossal performance, arguably his career-best dramatic work, in this lionizing biopic of the mysteriously vanished labor leader.

The script is not entirely factual, but it - and Nicholson - are at their best when it is. The film is saturated with dramatic deliveries that inspire viewer admiration of Hoffa.

Nicholson awes as he dramatizes the verbal and logical knockouts with which Hoffa pummeled a well-bred, well-schooled Bobby Kennedy during the 1957 McClellan Rackets Committee hearings - scripted verbatim from footage included in the extras.

Other milestones such as Hoffa's organization of Kroger Grocery truck drivers, his conviction, and his subsequent pardoning by Nixon are also portrayed through generally accurate historical content.

The admiration that Nicholson's delivery invokes is further justified and mirrored within the personal anecdotes of Teamster members found among the fairly generous DVD extras.

Director DeVito's exceedingly dull commentary is obsessed with trivial technical details.

No 1993 Academy nod for Nicholson's work here, but that doesn't imply a less-than-stellar delivery. Nicholson already had two statues on his mantle, while Al Pacino, still Oscar-less twenty years after "The Godfather," had "Scent of a Woman" up on deck.

"Hoffa" was of little interest when 1992-released straight into the blossoming of a full decade of prosperity. Now the film has its rightful place in time, as ever-more American workers find themselves exploited & abused by incompetent/unethical management, their workplaces exported out from under them, and relegated to McJobs in order to survive.

Today, many viewers would find a great deal to admire within what Hoffa accomplished for millions of American workers - no matter what means he used to accomplish them. And Nicholson's incredibly talented portrayal delivers up that admiration to them.

Strongly recommended.

If you've only seen the highly edited/clipped, perennially re-run cable/sat TV version, you haven't yet experienced anywhere near the full sweep and drama of "Casino."

The definitive Vegas wiseguy flick - and one of the best films to come out of the 1990s - "Casino" is almost directly sourced from the true 1970s events surrounding the (now imploded) Stardust casino and the epic disintegration of its Mob-picked manager Lefty Rosenthal and wingman/gangster Tony "Ant" Spilotro. Though the film follows the fictional Tangiers casino, "Stardust" appears three times in the soundtrack cue in the viewer.

As chronicled in Nicholas Pileggi's well-informed and NYT best-selling book (Pileggi is also source for "Goodfellas"). Most of the interior casino shots were taken during the graveyard shift inside the Riviera.

This is also the film that proved Sharon Stone more dramatic actress than sultry sex object. Stone here earns both a well-deserved Best Actress Golden Globe and an Oscar nod. That her delivery was not overshadowed while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with DeNiro and Pesci is even stronger testimony. This despite the fact that Stone had to beg Scorsese for her showcasing. Prior to "Casino," Stone's career milestones had been "Basic Instinct," "Total Recall" and the Steven Seagal vehicle "Above the Law."

Everyone else on cast delivers solid as well.

"Casino" is riddled with errors in continuity and geography, likely evidencing the amount of Vegas fun cast/crew enjoyed during filming.

The leads are especially well-draped; Stone's dressed to the nines and DeNiro's dapper, perfectly-cut suitings (all 52 of them) ought be the envy of every middle-aged man in need of wardrobe revival. In fact DeNiro's wardrobe was based on actual samples from Lefty's extensive clothing collection.

The "Tenth Anniversary Edition" extras hold hours of content (of varying quality) regarding the film's design, sets, history and backstory.

Highest recommendation.