Rating: 
Summary: SO BAD IT'S GOOD
Review: This movie has many, many flaws. Fairuza Balk is way too old to be playing a teenager dating (portly) Brad Renfro; the dialogue is totally corny; and the camera work is awful. Other than that, it's not a bad movie. The story is very, very much like many movies you've already seen that were better: The Outsiders, West Side Story, A Bronx Tale, etc., etc. The soundtrack is excellent; the scene with Fairuza and Brad in a steamy pool is hot. Definitely worth watching for any one who likes movies about the 1950s/Italians/gangs/teenagers. My favorite BAD line is when Brad Renfro says it's 115 degrees outside, even though HE is the one wearing a leather jacket!
Rating: 
Summary: Awsome
Review: This movie is an awsome movie. Brad Renfro puts on an excellent part in the movie fantastic. The fight scences are amazing how they made them look real. IT also showed how tough it was to live back in the 50's with street gangs this is the best movie I have seen in a theatre in years i give Brad Renfro two thumbs up for a fantastic performance and its his best movie since Bully. Go Brad!! Your back on the big screen bigger and badder then ever!
Rating: 
Summary: ho hum
Review: This movie was formulaic and cliche ridden. The writing was spotty with some cheesy dialogue. I paid matinee price so didn't feel too bad about spending money on it...I'd wait until it comes out on video/DVD if you really want to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Need to see it!...
Review: This was a really good movie. You should deffinently see it if you get the chance.
I thought that it was going to be a really boring movie, but it totally
proved me wrong. 5 Starts all the way!...
Rating:
Summary: "West Side Story" with violence
Review: Though DEUCES WILD could basically be written off as WEST SIDE STORY with violence and profanity in place of music this is actually quite a good movie. Good in the sense that it kills time when you've got nothing better to do.
It is the summer of 1958 in Brooklyn and local gang the Deuces find themselves on the brink of war with rival gang the Vipers when their turf is threatened. But things get difficult for the Deuces leader Leon (Stephen Dorff) when his brother (Brad Renfro) falls in love with the sister of one of the Vipers (Fairuza Balk).
What saves DEUCES WILD is that director Scott Kalvert doesn't take the story too seriously (at times DEUCES WILD feels like one of those "Rebel Highway" TV movie remakes) and neither do the actors, resulting in a picture that is entertaining in spite of its inadequacies. I hope Renfro's movie BULLY makes it down my end of the country, I'm dying to see it. If any Kiwis read this and have any info on BULLY or VISITOR Q please email me.
Rating: 
Summary: save your money
Review: Unless you like cheesey, poorly written, poorly acted, and poorly executed movies save yourself the money. If you just have to have a nostaglia trip, get The Outsiders instead
Rating: 
Summary: just ok .... far from great , but not awful
Review: Well like most others have commented yes the basic plot of the movie has been too many times to count . And yes there have been dozens of movies about the big-greasy hair and white t-shirt gangs of the late 50's and early 60's . But how many of those involved heroin dealers? or how many were as violent but as well written as this movie ... Yes , I will admit that the casting is a little weird in places . Most of the characters are suposed to be in their late teens or early twenties , and Fairuza Balk and Drea Demateo are just a little too old to be playing girls in their late teens . Or the head of the Deuces and his brother are really out of place , the are suposed to be in their early 20s! Couldn't they have found actors with less receaded hair lines?
The film itself is ok and is filled with ok writting, decent acting , and tons of nostalga ( all the cars and the BROOKLYN Dodgers). And if you want to know the honest truth I saw the movie mostly because I'm obssessed with Fairuza Balk (dont ask why , Im not sure "why") .Yeah overall the movie does leave something to be desired in some areas but you should find something to like and will probably watch this again when you dont know what else to rent or need to kill an hour or two. So yeah its an ok movie.
Rating:
Summary: gratuitous garbage
Review: West Side Story with more blood and less ballet. There are two street gangs -- the Deuces and the Vipers -- in 1950s Brooklyn and they have long established their "turf" and the other better not cross it. One day Bobby, a Deuce, crosses the street -- and into Viper turf -- to help Annie move into her new place with her brother -- who is a Viper. He likes her. Oh no, move over Tony and Maria!Fairuza Balk is badly miscast as a 1950s 'fox'. She looks like a vampire, and like she enjoys all the blood. Drea DeMatteo is convincing both in acting and style. Frankie Muniz is all right as well. But the plot is just old and contrived -- a bunch of neighborhood lunkheads who don't even know why they hate each other, just maiming and killing each other as things get out of control. I didn't like any of them, and I didn't care about any of them, and all the characters just brought it onto themselves. It is depressing ...
Rating:
Summary: Underrated, Flawed but an Entertaining flick.
Review: When gangs ruled the streets of New York City in the Brooklyn area in the late 1950's. When a tough but good hearted young man by the name of Leon (Stephen Dorff) tries to control his younger out of control-teenage brother by the name of Bobby (Brad Renfro), since Leon is the leader of the gang-called the Deuces. Deuces are the opposite of a dangerous gang, known as the Vipers. Leon tries to keep drugs off the streets that killed his brother, when the leader of the Vipers (Norman Reedus) is out of prison for being there in three years, since He wants revenge, someone did rat him out to the Cops. Bobby falls in love with an attractive care-free older woman (Fairuza Balk)-which her dangerous no-good drug addicted brother (Balthazar Getty) is part of the threatening gang. When the leader of the Vipers, who wants to sell Drugs and Things are about to change-When the Deuces and the Vipers are fighting against eachother for fighting the peace of the streets and keep drugs off the block, even if it's comes to violence. This underrated film is stylish, tough, passionate and good looking brutality strong gang drama. Which does capture the life vividly in this little-seen flick. Directed by Scott Kalvert (The Basketball Diaries) did a fine job, which does have a terrific cast (Including:Max Perlich, Drea de Matteo, Vincent Pastore, Frankie Muniz, Matt Dillon, Deborah Harry, James Franco and more) with an expectional cinematography by John A. Alonzo (Scarface, The Guardian, Star Trek:Generations), which sadly that Alonzo last film as the Director of Photography. The movie is quite flawed at the some of the Key Moments (Especially uneven in one surprise moment in the film, which is never resolve in the flick) but it's strong enough to keep this film, fast moving and it's also hard to disliked. DVD's has an terrific anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and it's also has the Pan & Scan version with an fine Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD Extras are good-Including:an engaging commentary track by the Director and Editor:Micheal R. Miller (Both admitting that the movie is flawed, trying thier best to make it entertaining as possible), Photo Gallery and Tralier. Do not miss this interesting small one of a kind movie. Filmed in 2000. Panavision. Grade:B+.
Rating:
Summary: no more west side story comparisons,please!!
Review: when i heard about DEUCES WILD back in late 1999 early 2000,i was elated at the prospect of there finally being another 50's/early 60's type of street gang melodrama on the horizon.
yet,of course,because of the 9/11 incident in new york,the a-holes in hollywood decided to push back its release for quite a while,so i had to be content with the occasional promo photo in random movie magazines.
finally the movie came out without much fanfare,alas it was also the 'spiderman' weekend,and also the innocuos 'lord of the rings' was in theatres as well that weekend,but luckilly that meant i was in the movie theatre with just myself,my girl and about ten other people.
i thought the movie was excellent,great costumes,great cars,great period music,great locations,good yet hammy acting,gorgeous leading ladies,stylized violent rumble scenes,cheezy yet touching overacted scenes between familys,decent period detail.
yet then the reviews started coming in,and everybody who had ever had freshmen english or drama class compared it annoyingly to west side story,a 1961 singing and dancing musical,when they should have made comparisons to another tho far superior 1961 gang film,john frankenhiemer's black and white opus,'the young savages',or even to photographer bruce davidson's late 50's photo essay,'brooklyn gang' or even the short comic story in the late 70's underground comic,'50's funnies',called,'turf',about a gang in the 50's fighting with another gang who wanted drugs in the neiborhood and who had mob backing and a character was even named marco.....awfully convenient dont you think?
anyways,while this movie was'nt as good as 'the young savages','lords of flatbush' or 'the wanderers',to name but a few,but it was a hundred times better than the wimpy 'west side story' could ever be.
i dont know if this review helps,but the leads in this film were really good,stephen dorf,brad renfro,drea dematteo,faruiza balk,matt dillon,normon reedus and james franco putting in good performances......also i liked the fact that they did,nt over saturate the film with to much music from the past,it was just the right amount,very good choices of songs by 'dion and the belmonts','jerry butler and the impressions','the valentines','dee clark' and a few others.
and of course,faruiza balk and drea dematteo,tho a little long in the tooth to be playing teenagers,looked absolutely scrumptiuos.
|
