"Real Gangster" is a real wannabe, bada bing, bada boom! Ey, you know what I'm saying? Forget about it!
Well, seriously this really isn't a very good gangster movie- or even just movie in general. It's obvious what it's trying to be but that at the same time is also on of the big problems with the movie; it's all too obvious, forced and not quite genuine and realistic enough feeling. It's trying to be like an old fashioned gangster flick, involving Italian mobsters, in the vein of movies such as "The Godfather", "Goodfellas" and the hit-series "The Sopranos". Seems to me that director/writer/producer/actor Frank D'Angelo had seen a few too many gangster movies and thought to himself that he could do and achieve the same as those movies and series. It would have been better though for him that instead of watching gangsters movies he really should have spend some more time on actually coming up with some good and original story ideas of his own for this movie, since one of the absolute biggest problems with it is that the story is without focus and it's even lacking a decent enough main plot line in it.
What's the story even supposed to be about? It's not about the rise and fall of a gangster, it's not about a mob war, it's not about redemption, it's not a cop vs. criminal type of story. No instead the story is about...well, it's just a look into the life of a criminal I guess but what's the point of the story? What is it trying to tell? Where is the conflict? There isn't a point to any of it and all that this movie gives us is a bunch of middle aged guys who are in a constant pissing contest with each other to see who's the toughest and who can use the most foul words in a single sentence.
And really, I rarely ever complain about profanities used in movies. I mean, I love Quentin Tarantino type of dialog, that's filled to the brim with F words and it absolutely never bothers me. I don't even really notice it, since it always suits the movie's its style and atmosphere so well. it's natural to the movies but I just can't say the same things about this movie as well though. It's extremely distracting and annoying how every line the Frank D'Angelo character says either ends or begins with the F word and I'm not even exaggerating. It's just too much and instead of making him look like a tough guy he comes across like a blabbering idiot and hothead who can't even think straight. And this is the main character of the movie! The person that we are supposed to sympathize with and care for. Needless to say that none of it works out like that for the movie though.
And I'm not saying that Frank D'Angelo is a bad actor in this movie but his character really doesn't have an awful lot of range to him. And the man to blame for that still is the very same Frank D'Angelo, since he's also the person who both wrote and directed this movie. it's a very flat and one dimensional movie, without any suspense, surprises or even an interesting and engaging enough story. It really feels like a pointless movie about nothing, in which we constantly have to watch a bunch of guys talking to each other and occasionally beating someone up, or worse. The dialog often just goes on and on, while in fact they are saying absolutely nothing. I'm sure that D'Angelo and all of his buddies had a great time making this movie but it unfortunately did not result in a good movie as well.
Watching this movie is an offer you can- and most definitely also should, refuse. It's not the worst wannabe gangster movie that I have ever seen but it truly is one of the most pointless and forgettable ones.
4/10
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