Rating: 
Summary: Great film
Review: I have never understood why this film did not get better billing considering the outstanding job the director and strong cast do in telling a rather predictable tale of betrayal and revenge. I have seen it a number of times and have never tired of it. Harris is simply superb as the cold, menacing boss of the gang. The best scene is when he literally spits venom in one scene towards the end of the film. Garry Oldman, gives his best performances since "Sid & Nancy", while Sean Penn also gives one of his most credible, but not best, performances. Thats only because Penn's audience has come to expect such high standards of him however. I thought the actors playing the other mobsters were also very good, especially Harris's thick necked enforcer. Robin Wright gives a performance that generates genuine empathy for her tragic character, who caught in the middle of this drama. There are a number of surprise performances as well. All in all, a great film, with brilliant directing and cinematography that is long over-due on the DVD format. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally on DVD WOOHOO
Review: I was afraid this title would never make it on DVD. Im so glad its finally here. I saw this gem at the theatre when it was being shown here in Toronto and I didn't expect it to be that great. Boy was I surprised! This movie is just choke-filled with some of the greatest performances of any movie to date. Thats a big statement but I truly believe this movie is deserving of such accolades! Ranks up there among my top 3 movies along with Shawshank Redemption and Silence of the Lambs.
Rating:
Summary: An Irish "Novel" of friendship and betrayel
Review: I watched this movie about ten times and think it's one of the most underrated movies around. Coming along with a great cast like Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris and Robin Penn Wright, this movie caught me again and again from the first second to the last.
Set in Hell's Kitchen New York the movie let's you breathe in the Irish athmosphere and tells a bloodthirsty story of friendship & betrayel. Sean Penn plays Terry Noonan, an undercover policeman who was infiltrated in an Irish gang lead by the Flannery brothers ( fantastic play by Gary Oldman and Ed Harris ). The film reflects very good Noonan's split emotions beeing a cop investigating against his former friends and the growing love to the sister of the Flannery brothers ( above average play of Robin Penn Wright ).
The film combines a good story, great actors, silent and short eruptions of violence and maybe one of the most impressive shoot out final ever ! Fantastic camera work!
If you like films like "Good Fellas" and "Reservoir Dogs" you should not miss this one. If you hide yourself behind a pillow when violence comes into play, leave it.
Rating:
Summary: More than a gangster movie...
Review: It's really about conflict resolution - how one person resolves his personal conflicts (his internal angst over betrayal of others, betrayal of his own beliefs and the validity of those beliefs), his conflicts with others (the external action) and, to some degree, his conflict with God (that's the whole point of Terry's/Penn's discussion regarding grace and the quality or state of it) because you see him struggling with and trying to reconcile what he's sworn to do vs. the ethical/moral implications of his actions filtered through his own spiritual/religious beliefs. What man would have him do to his "brother" violates what God would supposedly have him do as a Christian/Catholic. It's a brilliant character study, and not just of Terry, but also Jack - Gary Oldman's character. Jack is the perfect foil for Terry, and in some ways, is more deserving of viewer sympathy. A final note, the film is beautifully shot - so why isn't it on DVD yet?
Rating:
Summary: How did this movie go so unnoticed?
Review: It's unfortunate that this movie received so little marketing and went largely unnoticed. First off, amazing cast. Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright, and John Turturro star in this movie. Sean Penn gives one his best performances as Terry Noonan, who goes undercover into New York's Irish mob. He was selected because his childhood friend, Jackie (Oldman), is one of the top Lieutenants, and Jack's older brother Frankie (Harris) is the boss. Noonan quickly becomes encompassed in a life he had forgotten, and falls back in love with Frankie & Jackie's younger sister Kathleen (Wright), who is trying to get away from the life her brothers have chosen. Turturro plays the cop/mentor for Terry who has to try and convince he's doing the right thing. When Frankie has another childhood friend (John C Reilly) killed, Terry has to figure a way to take Frankie down, but is conflicted due to his love for Jackie and Kathleen. I won't spoil the rest, but that's a synopsis of what the movie is about. It's about love, hate, betrayal, and revenge. Penn gives a remarkable performance as the conflicted cop (similar to Donnie Brasco), and Oldman plays a bad guy that everyone loves. Harris plays the role of a cold, ruthless mob boss with perfection. Wright & Turturro give above average performances as co-stars, and the remaining actors are well cast. To sum it all up, one of the best Organized Crime movies of all time and starring 4 men who have been nominated for Academy Awards. Above average plot, great cinematography, brilliant acting, and a very original ending, make this movie a must for all mob movie fans, and recommendation to all others.
Rating:
Summary: Don't hesitate !
Review: Killer movie-must have,look @ the cast & imagine them @ their best.Need I say more?
Rating: 
Summary: Just didn't buy it...could have been great...
Review: Listen, I've been reading the reviews of this film and had to write in response. I finally saw "State of Grace" the other day, thanks to HBO on demand (big thumbs up there), after I had heard many great things about it. Personally, I disagreed with most of them. I feel like Oldman's performance is over the top in a bad way, the red faced sweaty ridiculousness of his character just seems absurd. However, it is really the actions that his character takes with no repurcussions that makes the film so unreal. When he shoots the three men in the bar, there is no fear of being caught or the cops searching for him? Complete bull. This movie uses violence in spades but the violence has no real point. UNLIKE the great movies other reviewers have compered this to, I find the performances fairly mediocre & the plotline itself drawn out, predictable & daft to be honest (Burgess Meredith being an exception in his bit role). I know this review isn't written very well, but I feel that a [bad] piece of work like this really doesn't deserve much time & thought beyond what I've given it. Avoid unless every other gangster movie EVER made is out at the store.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: Ok, I just saw this movie just a little while ago and I was blown away! It had so much action and feel, it was well written, smart, and the acting, well i mean Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris, what can I say. An awesome 'cops and robbers' movie in the same violent light as Reservoir Dogs and Donnie Brasco. A must see for any lover of gangster flicks with a brain and tons of punch. Now only if they would re-release it so I can get a copy...
Rating:
Summary: A very good account of the notorious "Westies" gang.
Review: One of Sean Penn's best. This movie is about the Irish-American gang from the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan known as the Westies, from their location on the West Side of NYC. Adapted from the book by Mickey Featherstone, a Westy turned informant when he realized he was to be killed, Penn plays an undercover cop on loan from the Boston PD, who was born in Hell's Kitchen and knows all the leading lights in the gang, and thus infiltrates the group. The St.Patrick'd Day finale to this film is a dandy. I reccommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Violent And Realistic Melodrama
Review: Released around the same time along with other gangster films
like "GOODFELLAS" "MILLER'S CROSSING" But did not recieve much
attention and it's a shame because it's a great film. Sean Penn
stars As a cop who feels the burnout from undercover police
work inflatrating an irish mob returns after ten years and finds
himself in over his head becoming what he fears most a Irish
Gangster. Top Notch cast features Penn's wife Robin Wright
Ed Harris and Gary Oldman who almost steels the show as a druken
suicidel Gangster with a vicsious meansteak... A great film with a lot of strong versatile actors portraying their roles with the utmost of profinceny. I Beleive this film is more appreciated now that the people involved in this production have gone on to do bigger and better films.
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