Kill the Irishman (Review)

Within the first few minutes of Kill the Irishman, it’s obvious the filmmakers have good taste in gangster films. As protagonist Danny Greene drives through the streets of Cleveland, he’s listening to era-appropriate pop songs on the radio. Suddenly, the audio starts breaking up. As soon as he realizes what’s going on, he leaps out the door to safety and his car subsequently explodes. The entire scene is unmistakably Scorsesian, from the music to the sudden, unexpected violence. However, we all know there are far worse filmmakers to ape than Martin Scorsese, and as a result Kill the Irishman becomes quite the watchable mob movie.

I may not be the most unbiased judge of Kill the Irishman, as the film takes place in the area where I’ve spent most of my childhood. Admittedly, I was not alive when its story was taking place, but hey - we Ohioans will take whatever we can get. In the ’60s and ’70s Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) became a powerful gangster in the Cleveland area, but once he began making a lot of enemies the assassination attempts started piling up. Kill the Irishman tells his story in the typical rise-and-fall fashion, while also chronicling how Greene led to the downfall of mafia families across the country.

All this is done while the movie tries as hard as it can to look like the long-lost brother of Casino or Goodfellas. The soundtrack, camerawork and (superfluous) narration by a police officer played by Val Kilmer all evoke Scorsese’s classic film, and for many this will detract from the Kill the Irishman – perhaps deservedly so. Yet there’s a quality to Kill the Irishman that makes it far more successful than it probably should be.

Perhaps it’s the surprisingly strong work of Ray Stevenson in the leading role. This is a character that could have easily turned into a Boondock Saint; a cartoonish and violent Irishman who can kill whomever he likes because he’s fighting for what is righteous. Stevenson and the filmmakers make Danny Greene an individual who is quite flawed, and his love for all things Irish are a vice rather than an advantage. He begins to believe in his own invincibility, and as a result his own destruction becomes inevitable.

The supporting cast is excellent as well. Christopher Walken proves that he can sleepwalk through a role and still be awesome with a brief turn as Alex Birns, a loan shark who eventually demands Greene’s head. Vincent D’Onofrio has a great deal of fun as Greene’s friend John Nardi, and even Kilmer is solid despite the fact that his role didn’t really need to exist. Even personal favorite Bond villain Robert Davi stops by to whack some people and cast a few menacing glares.

Director Jonathan Hensleigh and company also do a great job of capturing the blue-collar Cleveland atmosphere. Many mob movies have taken the “warts and all” approach to gangster life before, but never has such a film taken place in the industrial shadow of Lake Erie. Seeing a film that takes place in such an environment was refreshing, even if it is little more than Goodfellas: Port of Call Cleveland.

It feels wrong to dismiss a movie like Kill the Irishman, even if it can all seem a bit derivative. Both the plot and the protagonist are fascinating to observe, and it uses its Irish/Cleveland environment to create something that feels a bit more unique than you might expect. Half of the enjoyment of Kill the Irishman comes from giving it a chance to surprise you, and it’s a film that deserves more attention than it’s likely ever to get. As a nation we’re paying $38 million to see Hop and we’re ignoring competent, interesting films like this. Doesn’t that seem wrong to you?

Rating:  (out of 4)

Kill the Irishman was produced by Tommy Reid, a graduate of Ohio State University, where I’m currently studying. I wrote a story about Reid and the film earlier this week for The Lantern, which you can read here.