Kill the Irishman

How can a movie starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken, alongside a rogues' gallery of colorful tough-guy character actors (Tony Lo Bianco, Robert Davi, Paul Sorvino, et al.) possibly turn out this uninspired? D'Onofrio and Walken manage to liven things up sporadically, but this cast just makes Kill the Irishman all the more disappointing. The true-life story lends itself to an action-packed gangster movie, and, for the opening scene, it seems like that's what this is going to be, as Cleveland-area hood Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) barely escapes a car bombing, then bellows a challenge to his enemies. Despite a few well-executed action set pieces, it's pretty much downhill from there. Greene's arc—from dockworker to union boss to mobster to pariah—is an interesting one, but the film clumsily stitches together familiar tropes, including a standard "rise to the top" montage. Also, Greene may have had more integrity than most of his peers, but the movie soft-pedals his brutality to the point where it strains credulity and makes him less compelling. Aided by a soulful soundtrack, Kill the Irishman has an authentically gritty low-budget 1970s vibe, but it skews more toward broadly exploitative entertainment than the moral ambiguity and resonance of the era's best films.