This movie seems like it is going to be great with De Niro as a busy young handsome competent monseigneur in 1947 LA....but it quickly deteriorates into skeleton scenes and irritating 40s detective style corny dialog--cynical one liners etc..(This kind of dialog needs to be delivered quick without blinking by the right actors Stanwyck or others and it works OK...not as done in this film.)
Nothing fleshes the plot out with excitement or suspense--in fact what exactly is the plot? Is it a murder mystery? A tough detective story? An insider view of the church?? Corrupt but basically good guy cops?? All these plot lines are fragmented and loose.
Duval is frankly irritating in this movie and looks and acts so different from De Niro that it is jarring whenever he enters a scene as his brother.
Where is the beef? It seems like there aren't enough people or large chunks of the story are missing. What is so captivating about a $5 hooker hotel?- What is the deal with the Chinese paying off the cops? Why did the madam commit suicide or was she murdered?? Why did she spend time in the pen for Duval? None of it is tied together.
You so hope that De Niro will get involved in an interesting story but there is no interesting story...there is a land developer who is corrupt but that is glossed over. A hooker/actress is killed and cut in two pieces but nothing much develops from that story. We find out De Niro gave her a ride in his car so that ruins his career...Why??
You end up not caring about any of these characters and they seem cardboard and thin. Duval and his ugly side kick are repulsive to watch. Duval gets angry and throws some punches at the property developer...the oblique involvement of the Property Developer in the girls death (she is sliced in two) is vague and leads no where--apparently he didn't kill the hooker just introduced her to someone who probably did.
DULL AND BORING
AVOID.
Nothing fleshes the plot out with excitement or suspense--in fact what exactly is the plot? Is it a murder mystery? A tough detective story? An insider view of the church?? Corrupt but basically good guy cops?? All these plot lines are fragmented and loose.
Duval is frankly irritating in this movie and looks and acts so different from De Niro that it is jarring whenever he enters a scene as his brother.
Where is the beef? It seems like there aren't enough people or large chunks of the story are missing. What is so captivating about a $5 hooker hotel?- What is the deal with the Chinese paying off the cops? Why did the madam commit suicide or was she murdered?? Why did she spend time in the pen for Duval? None of it is tied together.
You so hope that De Niro will get involved in an interesting story but there is no interesting story...there is a land developer who is corrupt but that is glossed over. A hooker/actress is killed and cut in two pieces but nothing much develops from that story. We find out De Niro gave her a ride in his car so that ruins his career...Why??
You end up not caring about any of these characters and they seem cardboard and thin. Duval and his ugly side kick are repulsive to watch. Duval gets angry and throws some punches at the property developer...the oblique involvement of the Property Developer in the girls death (she is sliced in two) is vague and leads no where--apparently he didn't kill the hooker just introduced her to someone who probably did.
DULL AND BORING
AVOID.