I had absolutely no knowledge of the mob drama, Brooklyn Rules until it was offered to me for review. I opted out of looking it up and instead waited until I received my review copy. I knew that this particular mob movie featured Freddie Prinze Jr. and Alec Baldwin as the two main stars. So, when I popped it into the DVD player it is safe to say I was going in blind. As someone who loves mob movies, a part of me now wishes that I had stayed blind to this movie because as a mob flick, it wasn’t worth opening my eyes.

The plot revolves around three friends in their twenties from Brooklyn. The story is set in 1985 when the three men cross paths with the mafia. The three men are more like a small gang that consists of lead character, Michael Turner (Prinze Jr.), Carmine Mancuso (Scott Caan) and Bobby Canzoneri (Jerry Ferrara).

Turner is meant to be your average, slick talking conman. He differs from the others in his ability to talk his way out of the neighborhood and into Columbia University. The rest of the three man group has no apparent plans to leave Brooklyn. Bobby is the nice guy of the group. He plans on becoming a postman and worries about his friends well being. He doesn’t need to worry about Michael too much. Actually, both of the men seem focused on Carmine’s behavior. Carmine, the notorious tough guy is looking for trouble as he tries to make friends with the mob. In this case the mob is the Gambino captain of the area, Caesar Manganaro (Alec Baldwin).

As the 80s continue through the film, there are tensions coming from the relationship of the friends, as well as escalation from the mob trouble. During this time, Carmine becomes much closer to his mob friends while Carmine and Michael find love with their respective women. Michael even makes it all the way to law school with a little help from cheating. While Michael is courted by the mob he tends to leave them alone, opting for the straight life of law school and his preppy girlfriend can provide him. However, when Gino (Christian Maelen) comes into his life and clashes with Michael, the trouble is unable to be realized. Michael and friends immediately end up in Caesar’s territory, in a sit down that proves fruitless. Soon after, the three men are in battle that is nothing less than bloody and completely unexpected from their end.

The main problem with Brooklyn Rules is that it seems to not have a specific purpose. When you watch mob movies like Goodfellas, The Godfather, or The Departed you understand the point and you are familiar with what you are supposed to get from the film. With Brooklyn Rules, you get a little of this and a little of that, but at the end of the day there is not enough of anything to do any of it justice. The movie ends up falling flat, which was something that became increasingly disappointing as I love mob films and was hoping for a good one here.

The mob oriented scenes, like when someone’s ear is being sliced off, reminds me of better mob films. I do not know if those films were used for inspiration and they failed or if the coincidence is unintentional, but I kept feeling like I was watching a B-movie that wanted to pay homage to the more influential mob pictures out there. Much of the film lacks that mob quality and then when you think it’s not a mob film at all, someone is getting something whacked off. It just ends up being a little inconsistent for my tastes.

When it comes to the three friends the relationship tends to feel stale. Rather than offering chemistry there is none. Rather than offering originality we are left with the standard Catholic school bad boy talk about scoring with babes and which girls are the best in bed.

What’s worse than this is the acting and storyline for the mob based characters. Alec Baldwin’s performance is worth much less than one would expect from someone of his caliber. It’s almost as if he didn’t even try to act when it came to Brooklyn Rules. He never offered that frightening mob boss performance. In fact, his performance was never one that even commanded respect or power. He seemed like a normal guy that you might see in a New York borough. Freddie Prinze Jr. falls flat, but that could easily have been a miscasting problem. He is overly restrained and with the character he plays, the need to be strong and serious really becomes obvious and ruins the role. Meanwhile, on screen girlfriend, Mena Suvari is not seen on camera enough.

When you consider the fact that The Sopranos writer, Terence Winter penned this movie it is absolutely bewildering that someone could go from something so good to so bad. If you make it to the special features and want to watch them you will find the original trailer, commentary tracks by the director and Terence Winter, and small clips of the main actors as they discuss the film.

If you love mob movies as much as I do, I highly recommend that you approach Brooklyn Rules with caution. If you love curling up with Casino, The Godfather trilogy, The Departed, Goodfellas, and all of those other great films then you might feel at a loss when you watch Brooklyn Rules. I recommend renting this one before you buy it. You might end up liking it more than I did, but there is no use wasting that money for something that could leave you wanting so much more.

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Technorati Tags: Brooklyn Rules, Alec Baldwin, Mob Drama, Bad Movie