Brooklyn Rules (2007) Reviews

• Great film. Instant classic of the coming of age genre

  stickler-22005-08-31

  Went to a screening last night and was blown away. Michael Corrente is the kind of director that is in short supply these days. With all the garbage coming out of Hollywood, he has resisted the temptation to head west and make more $ and has instead stuck to his roots. Brooklyn Rules is a powerful independent film with a very realistic take on the coming of age genre. The cast is top notch. The stars and supporting characters ring incredibly true. I'm not going to list all the names (and there are some of the top actors out there) but just look at the credits and know that each of the actors did some of his/her best work to date. Scenes of the three best friends growing together are inter-cut with elements of harrowing violence and blossoming love. The total effect is one that left me wondering why so few films have the balance of Brooklyn Rules. So many are all out in one direction. Hyper violence- or total sex for 90 minutes. This movie has classical composition and pacing yet is completely original in it's own way. A harrowing portrait of learning the horrors of the modern city life. The soundtrack is amazing on its own. Kudos to all involved- Great job!

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• The Three Musketeers Of The Twenty First Century

  xxmyloveuxx2011-01-15

  As I go through "Brooklyn rules" DVD sitting on my rack-top for the umpteenth time, i can't help but feel disappointment deep within, not at the movie but at its fate. It is a pity that a film of this grandeur has gone through almost unnoticed by the general audience and critics. It has suffered the same dead-end that an "also ran" type movie suffers, when the truth is that it is far from one. The first words that float into my mind when I think of this movie is 'tour-de-force'. Yes, we have been subjected to countless of these gangster films over the decades but nothing comes close to this on levels of sheer effectiveness and the connection which it is able to make with the audience. The three protagonists right from their childhood to the untimely demise of one of them, take us on a unforgettable journey, made so not by any dramatic twists in the script or by any enchanting visual imagery in the movie (if you are looking for these things, I would suggest a re-watch of Avatar or perhaps some Justin Beiber), but by the simpleness of the script. Mike, Carmine and Bobby- the heroes of this tale- have a chemistry going on between them that almost makes you believe in them, believe that what is happening in front of you is real. What most of us are not lucky enough to experience is having childhood friends and still being their closest buddies when we grow old, the joy of calling these friends names, the persistent attempt to one-up each other, the wonder of always sharing our moments of joy, sorrow, and things we love most with them and finally even being willing to kill for them. And it is this true friendship that the movie depicts and does so in a manner that makes you believe in what you are seeing despite their difference in personality and inclinations and despite their differences in education. And this is what later makes you feel the pain of two of our lone warriors left behind when one of the pack leaves them forever in the battlefield that is life. The reactions and the expressions in this leaves no place for superficiality, it is just as if the things are happening to you or me or to a next door neighbor- the film succeeds in depicting the trios life to such a big extent, and herein lies its greatness. I have all but the greatest respect for Corrente in making the lives three ordinary boys living in a unruly district into this extraordinary film, and yet warn you all the same, that if you haven't watched this yet then don't go in expecting great things cause then you might not find them, but if you just go in to experience something, then I would bet you a thousand bucks that you will come back more full-filled from it and with the knowledge that the 100 minutes of your life were indeed well spent. Watching this movie was indeed a life changing episode for me and I enjoyed it as much as watching the first edition of Rocky (note that I compare the two because these are both simple and yet really powerful movies). The movie is aptly summarized in the conclusive scene by Michael Turner in reminiscence of his departed friend, when he says that wherever you go, and whatever you do- you are never far apart from your true friends and not even death can separate you from them for you always carry them in your heart. And this is exactly what this movie is all about. Their immortal friendship. And so if it is in the case of true friendship, that even if fate has the worst in store for you, you needn't bother as you live forever in the memory of your friends then the same goes for this movie as it will always live on, in the memory of us few faithful followers who could grasp its true meaning.

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• Brooklyn Rules

  kevsharkey2007-05-22

  Brooklyn Rules is a good story about the undying love and loyalty of three friends growing up in Brooklyn, under some very difficult circumstances. Some fine acting by Alec Baldwin and Scott Caan and very good dialog, so listen carefully. I think this movie has a minor flaw. Sometimes it moves a little slowly but the story line does keep you interested. There is some very funny dialog in this script that breaks up some of the serious moments in the movie, which I liked. This movie is also very violent at times but I believe it was a necessary part of the story.The script,written by Terence Winter was very good and superbly directed by Michael Corrente. I also liked the way this movie was filmed, the set decoration was good and so was the lighting. It made a lot of the scenes very easy on the eye. All in all, I came away from this movie feeling good. It reminded me of growing up with my friends, not under the same circumstances, mind you, but just the way good friends talk to each other with brutal honesty and oh yes, always a wisecrack.I recommend this movie because it is about all of us in some ways. I think people will identify with the characters, I think they will like the film.

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• One of the best directed movies I have seen in a while

  bigpimpin362007-05-28

  If I had to sum up this movie it would have to include a mixture of Boondock Saints, A Bronx Tale and a little taste of Goodfellas all rolled into one to create BROOKLYN RULES...the cast was awesome the storyline was as truthful as you can get and the movie had it's moments of comedy and others of reflection....I would give this movie a 10 out of 10 and I hope that more people get to see this movie which without the hype will gain it's legion of viewers by word of mouth...those are the best kind of movies in my opinion the ones that just spread like a tidal wave without the pomp and circumstance but still end up being all-time classics or at least achieve Cult Status.

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• Scorsese lite: lackluster gangster drama back in the day

  george.schmidt2007-05-21

  BROOKLYN RULES (2007) ** Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Scott Caan, Mena Suvari, Jerry Ferrara, Monica Keena. (Dir: Michael Corrente) Scorsese lite: lackluster gangster drama back in the day Ever since Martin Scorsese made his bones as a filmmaker with MEAN STREETS and GOODFELLAS there seems to be a flood of rip-offs or as they would like to think 'homage' to the master who made made men respectable for the average cinephile who could get there violence graphic and anti-heroes even more complex. However the latest attempt to score a hit for The Mob is a rather lackluster gangster drama set back in the day: specifically Brooklyn circa 1985. The focus is on a trio of childhood chums who've seen the brutality of the streets but are none-the-wiser: Michael Turner (Prinze,, Mr. Zero Charisma himself), as the narrator of the flashback driven story, who has Ivy League dreams of becoming a lawyer; his hot-headed goomba wannabe thug bud Carmine Mancuso (Caan, continuing his cottage industry of short-fused jerk-offs) and their sweet but dumb buddy Bobby Canzoneri (Ferrera of HBO's "Entourage" who I can't stomach at all nor the series come to mention it). The three friends are on aimless existences with Michael trying to maintain the straight and narrow path for a stable, normal life preferably from the concrete jungles of his environs while seeing Carmine becoming further corrupted by the local mobster Caesar Manganaro (Baldwin, the best thing about this otherwise tedious affair), a shifty-eyed yet charismatic capo who has his fingers in many pies and shows his true colors for violence in one memorable sequence involving a competitor in the refuse removal business and a meat slicer in the butcher joint Michael works. While the script by vet scribe Terence Winter ("The Sopranos") intersperses real life gangsters from the era into the storyline the lines are a bit forced and predictable for the outcome for the trio's fates and the characters feel like cardboard facsimiles of other genre films like the aforementioned Scorsese canon. Director Corrente (who made a decent debut years back with FEDERAL HILL) does the best he can with the familiar material but ultimately can't infuse the stock material with any real energy (accept for a decent fist-fight in a diner). That can pretty much some up the entire film as a whole.

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