![]() ![]() "Knockaround Guys" opens with Matty being turned down for a job because of his infamous last name. crime pictures, it's equally true that "The Sopranos" and all the other post-Scorsese "Goodfellas" stories bring in an element of psychological complexity that only confuses an occupation that used to have a brutal simplicity. If it's true that the mob in the 1930s learned how to talk by studying Warner Bros. The movie's basic question, I suppose, is whether the rising generation of mobsters is so self-conscious it will never gain the confidence of its ancestors. He's a tough guy, yes, a street fighter, but conflicted and with a kind of wise sadness about human nature. And it makes good use of Diesel, who as he develops into an action superstar may not get roles this juicy for a while. It's more than that-it's interesting in the way it shows these guys stuck between generations. Because it isn't wall-to-wall action but actually bothers to develop its characters and take an interest in them, it was not at first considered commercial by its distributor, New Line, and languished on the shelf for two years until the growing stardom of Diesel (" XXX") and Pepper (" We Were Soldiers") made it marketable. The movie crosses two formulas-Fish Out of Water and Coming of Age-fairly effectively. He assumes they're involved with drugs, doesn't much care "as long as they move on through," but is very interested in the possibility of money. "Looks like they're multiplying," the sheriff observes to his deputy. They stick out like sore thumbs in the little town. Matty flies out to Montana with backup: his friends Taylor ( Vin Diesel) and Scarpa ( Andrew Davoli). "Now everybody's feelings are involved." The heart of the movie takes place in Wibaux, a town ruled by a tall, taciturn, ominous sheriff, played by that unmistakable actor Tom Noonan. "Used to be there was a way to do things and things got done," Matty's Uncle Teddy ( John Malkovich) complains. "Knockaround Guys" is inspired by the same impulse as "The Sopranos." It considers gangsters in the modern age, beset by progress, unsure of their roles, undermined by psychobabble. ![]()
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