Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002

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Knockaround Guys is in a long line of "not bad, but..." 2002 releases. For me, it had the distinction of being the first of four such in one weekend. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) As sons of "knockaround guys" - top Brooklyn mobsters - Matty Demaret (Barry Pepper), Taylor Reese (Vin Diesel), Johnny Marbles (Seth Green), and Chris Scarpa (Andrew Davoli) are the Rodney Dangerfields of the mob world: they don't get no respect. "Regular" people fear and despise them, keeping them at arms length; and their relatives, like Matty's father Benny Chains (Dennis Hopper) and uncle Teddy Deserve (John Malkovich), treat them like kids. Never mind that whiny Matty, dopehead Marbles, and playboy Chris, act like kids... Matty sees a way to get some respect from the Guys, when he asks to run a job picking up money owed to his father. His first mistake was counting on Marbles to do the job; and when Matty, Taylor, and Chris go to Montana to recover the cash, they compound that mistake by confronting a greedy local sheriff (Tom Noonan). Unfortunately, Uncle Teddy doesn't much like mistakes. THE UPSHOT I knew I was in trouble when the little (and not-so-little) girlies in my audience started squealing when Vin Diesel showed up on screen. Right then and there, I knew I was in for a lonnnng, painful weekend at the movies. Who knew I was talented and clairvoyant? The major problem I had with Knockaround Guys is that it's such a "been there, done that, I know what's coming next" story, that it needed some extra oomph to perk up my interest. Titillation over Vin Diesel's body didn't do it, nor did the "twist" of the sons' Dangerfield act; and certainly, the speechifying and the telegraphed ending, didn't help. Simply put, the "oomph" was just plain missing. Not that the players didn't give it a good effort. Yes, Dennis Hopper's Italian Mob Boss accent was completely laughable, as was John Malkovich's bad hairpiece. But Malkovich was his usual quietly bad assed self, menacing in between the lines, no matter how physically slight he may be. Barry Pepper and Vin Diesel had a nice chemistry, though Diesel surprisingly stole the show from Pepper. As Taylor The Half-Jewish [you saw the Star Of David tattoo and chain, right? No? That Whifflebat didn't hit ya? You lucky stiff.] Muscleman, Diesel's no-nonsense approach to Thug Life did add some spice to this otherwise bland concoction. He and the two wacky party dude skateboarders raised my appreciation of this movie up a notch, from a straight ho-hum yellowlight, to a "worth a look" flashing yellowlight rating. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE I am thoroughly convinced that Knockaround Guys was only released from On The Shelf Too Long hell because Vin Diesel is suddenly a Hot Property. The kiddies in my audience seem to agree with his lofty status; but it wasn't enough to make this movie worth first-run viewing for this Chick. KNOCKAROUND GUYS:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/