'Kill the Irishman'
(Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio, Linda Cardellini, Val Kilmer, et al / DVD / R / 2011 / Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Overview: Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonated in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war raged between Irish mobster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) and the Italian mafia. Based on a true story, 'KILL THE IRISHMAN' chronicles Greene's heroic rise from a tough Cleveland neighborhood to become an enforcer in the local mob.
DVD Verdict: He didn't want to be wealthy, famous or even powerful. All he wanted was a good home for his loved ones, a safe life for his children and fair labor for those who worked under him. That's the true story of Danny Greene. He wasn't a mobster but a testament to the integrity, honor and dignity so many of us lack.
Did he do some bad things? Yep. But to what end? Only to preserve what he had worked so hard to obtain in his life. And when that life came to an eventual end, he knew in that split second he was gone - and still acted like a man of principle.
This film is incredible. You can't get up after having watched it saying it wasn't one of the best films of the 2000's! You simply get drawn into it from the off and follow the big Irishman around the screen for 90 minutes thereafter.
And, for the record, it's not about the Boston Irish, either. It's Cleveland ... a big dirty town built upon a foundation of sweat, blood and corruption. And yet, funnily enough, it was filmed here in Detroit and features some local landmarks from the day (Tiger Stadium, that was bulldozed down the day after filming) and the brand new just-built a few years ago new home of Tigers baseball, Comerica Park - which is weird as it was meant to be a 1977 film at that time!
All that being said, if you want to see a good story that is historically accurate, you'll enjoy and appreciate this film. But, if you want all the bling blam of a Guy Ritchie flick, you should probably look elsewhere, because this show is all grit. This is a Widescreen presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of a Bonus documentary on the true story of Danny Green - featuring accounts from the real FBI investigators, mobsters, and family members dramatized in the film.
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