Daft

Rating: 7/10 (28 October 2006)

Y'know, I don't think I've actually watched much Scorcese before I watched this last night with the missus, but I can understand why people rate him so highly - in terms of putting together a tight piece of entertainment and getting convincing (albeit not necessarily realistic) performances out of his actors, he's indisputably one of the best, but I couldn't escape the impression that this film was utterly ridiculous. The good points are many; Jack is 200% fun to watch, it rattles along at a rate of knots and I was always intrigued to see what happened next (despite it dragging in a couple of scenes near the end)amongst others, but equally there were places where I thought, "Oh come on..."; I wouldn't know a Boston accent if I heard it, but despite that, even I could tell that a fair whack of them were mangled, especially Ray Winstone's (you're great to watch, Ray, but please, god, stick to Cockney). And I didn't really buy Vera Farmiga's character, but then I've lived a very sheltered life...
I guess I was expecting something more hard hitting rather than this silly, but as I say, it was a lot of fun. I wanted to give it a 7.5, but I can't, so it gets a seven.
Hayfax_Jo