Rating: 
Summary: A Little Swagger with your Pasta
Review: "Chimes, Charlie, chimes..." The Pope of Greenwich Village was one of the great films of 1984 and offers a visually and thematically telling portrait of two small-time hustlers in Little Italy. Charlie, portrayed brilliantly by Mickey Rourke in his finest performance, is wed, in a brotherly sense, to his second cousin, Paulie, played with equal bravado by Eric Roberts. It is an Italian/NYC version of Of Mice and Men and proves that blood is thicker than water, and even a little thicker than a nice hot cup of laced espresso. Pay particular attention to the wonderful work of Burt Young as Bedbug Eddy -- a local boss that causes Charile and Paulie (not to mention Paulie's "thummmmb") a great deal of grief. Certain lines by Eric Roberts are unforgettable, Rourke's swagger is unparalleled, and great tracks ranging from Frank Sinatra to Mink deVille offer the wonderful back drop of the Village and equal dose of acoustic power. It is a New York movie, it is an Italian-American morality tale -- it's tough and gritty and damn good. Leave the gun, take the canolis...and the movie. -- Mr. Zelig
Rating:
Summary: Great characters and dialogue make for a wonderful film
Review: "The Pope of Greenwhich Village" is a simple story of two desperate inhabitants of New York's Little Italy who are related. Eric Roberts is "Paulie", a directionless caifone who feels that you get ahead in life if you can make that one big money "score" and then retire to a warm, sunny beach somewhere in Miami. Mickey Rourke plays "Charlie", a guy from the same neighborhood who is in love with a WASP (Darryl Hannah) who is desperately trying to pry Charlie from Paulie's grips and keep him on a straight and narrow road-their aspiration to buy a restaurant in the country. "Diane" knows this is their ticket out of New york and away from Paulie, but Charlie just cannot seem to break away and falls prey to a "score" that goes terribly wrong. This desperate score was the result of Paulie getting both of them fired from the restaurant where they worked, and Charlie, saddled with bills and "a marshall who wants to put a lean on my salary, if and when I get a salary" has no choice but to go along on the caper. Great performances all around, and the supporting cast shines as well. Ths is an interesting study in frustration, temptation, desparation and humanity-and all its frailties.
Rating:
Summary: Rourke's breakthrough performance!
Review: "The Pope of Greenwich Village" could be considered Mickey Rourke's Swan Song. Rourke delivers a stellar performance laced with a brooding subtlety that prompts comparisons with Brando and McQueen. Eric Roberts, who is a seriously underrated talent of film, also offers an admirable performance. In contrast to Rourke, Roberts brings a comic element to the film. As a result, some scenes oscillate between compelling drama and off-beat comedy. There is an undeniable chemistry between these two actors and, hopefully, their work will be recognized in the future. Given their ostracism from the elitist enclaves of Hollywood, however, that does not seem likely.
Rating:
Summary: A New York Classic
Review: "The Pope of Greenwich Village" is, in its own way, a classic. It features a terrific cast including Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Burt Young, and M. Emmett Walsh, among others. It's another chapter in the seemingly endless variety of New York neighborhood dramas--"On the Waterfront," "Mean Streets," etc.. Like these, P G V contrasts two characters: a basically decent guy (in this case Charlie, played by Rourke) and a no good grifter (in this case Paulie, played by Roberts). And as these things usually work out, the no good one manages to rope the decent one into some sort of no good. The no good in "Pope" is a robbery. There are lots of examples, both good and bad, of this genre. Rather than being plot driven , movies of this sort are made or broken by how successful they are as character studies, and how well they capture life in the neighborhoods (Little Italy, in this case). To this film's credit, it's remarkably successful in both. Eric Roberts never equaled the performance he gives here in any other movie. It's also arguably Rourke ' s best work as well (some might argue for "Diner").
Rating:
Summary: A Little Swagger with your Pasta
Review: "Chimes, Charlie, chimes..." The Pope of Greenwich Village was one of the great films of 1984 and offers a visually and thematically telling portrait of two small-time hustlers in Little Italy. Charlie, portrayed brilliantly by Mickey Rourke in his finest performance, is wed, in a brotherly sense, to his second cousin, Paulie, played with equal bravado by Eric Roberts. It is an Italian/NYC version of Of Mice and Men and proves that blood is thicker than water, and even a little thicker than a nice hot cup of laced espresso. Pay particular attention to the wonderful work of Burt Young as Bedbug Eddy -- a local boss that causes Charile and Paulie (not to mention Paulie's "thummmmb") a great deal of grief. Certain lines by Eric Roberts are unforgettable, Rourke's swagger is unparalleled, and great tracks ranging from Frank Sinatra to Mink deVille offer the wonderful back drop of the Village and equal dose of acoustic power. It is a New York movie, it is an Italian-American morality tale -- it's tough and gritty and damn good. Leave the gun, take the canolis...and the movie. -- Mr. Zelig
Rating:
Summary: Great characters and dialogue make for a wonderful film
Review: "The Pope of Greenwhich Village" is a simple story of two desperate inhabitants of New York's Little Italy who are related. Eric Roberts is "Paulie", a directionless caifone who feels that you get ahead in life if you can make that one big money "score" and then retire to a warm, sunny beach somewhere in Miami. Mickey Rourke plays "Charlie", a guy from the same neighborhood who is in love with a WASP (Darryl Hannah) who is desperately trying to pry Charlie from Paulie's grips and keep him on a straight and narrow road-their aspiration to buy a restaurant in the country. "Diane" knows this is their ticket out of New york and away from Paulie, but Charlie just cannot seem to break away and falls prey to a "score" that goes terribly wrong. This desperate score was the result of Paulie getting both of them fired from the restaurant where they worked, and Charlie, saddled with bills and "a marshall who wants to put a lean on my salary, if and when I get a salary" has no choice but to go along on the caper. Great performances all around, and the supporting cast shines as well. Ths is an interesting study in frustration, temptation, desparation and humanity-and all its frailties.
Rating:
Summary: Rourke's breakthrough performance!
Review: "The Pope of Greenwich Village" could be considered Mickey Rourke's Swan Song. Rourke delivers a stellar performance laced with a brooding subtlety that prompts comparisons with Brando and McQueen. Eric Roberts, who is a seriously underrated talent of film, also offers an admirable performance. In contrast to Rourke, Roberts brings a comic element to the film. As a result, some scenes oscillate between compelling drama and off-beat comedy. There is an undeniable chemistry between these two actors and, hopefully, their work will be recognized in the future. Given their ostracism from the elitist enclaves of Hollywood, however, that does not seem likely.
Rating:
Summary: A New York Classic
Review: "The Pope of Greenwich Village" is, in its own way, a classic. It features a terrific cast including Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Burt Young, and M. Emmett Walsh, among others. It's another chapter in the seemingly endless variety of New York neighborhood dramas--"On the Waterfront," "Mean Streets," etc.. Like these, P G V contrasts two characters: a basically decent guy (in this case Charlie, played by Rourke) and a no good grifter (in this case Paulie, played by Roberts). And as these things usually work out, the no good one manages to rope the decent one into some sort of no good. The no good in "Pope" is a robbery. There are lots of examples, both good and bad, of this genre. Rather than being plot driven , movies of this sort are made or broken by how successful they are as character studies, and how well they capture life in the neighborhoods (Little Italy, in this case). To this film's credit, it's remarkably successful in both. Eric Roberts never equaled the performance he gives here in any other movie. It's also arguably Rourke ' s best work as well (some might argue for "Diner").
Rating:
Summary: A real slice of N.Y. life.
Review: "The Pope of Greenwich Village" was the ONLY movie adapted from a novel that remained true to the book. It could be because the book's author, Vincent Patrick, also wrote the screenplay.
Mickey Rourke was very good in the role of Charlie but Eric Roberts was just over the top as Paulie. Roberts was the movie. I could (and I do) watch this flick over and over.
Rating: 
Summary: Mickey Rourke at his charming best
Review: A pale imitation of Mean Streets, but worth seeing for Mickey Rourke's performance. Mr Rourke is witty, charming and stylish and wears his very eighties costumes with panache. His bouffant hairdo is a scream. He also blows smoke at pretty hatcheck girls with much style.
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