5 underrated movies

What five crime/mafia movies do you feel are under rated?

Bronx Tale- It gets high praise from critics but alot of people havent seen it and it is a brilliant film.

Wannabes- It had a good story and kept my interest throughout.

Boss of Bosses- a great made for TV movie featuring Chazz Palmitieri. About the life of Paul Castellano.

Empire- Very good story and had a solid casting

Blow- to me this is one of the best Movies I have ever seen but it rarely gets praise like Scarface- Blow to me is superior to Scarface because of the diaogue and cinematics.

I agree "Bronx Tale and Blow" are underated,very much so on these boards,

I thought Johhny Depp played a blinder in Blow.
And Chaz p! played a very good part in BT

I know Blow is a True Story,these two film would have been good with a sequal,especilly BT

My impression was that "Bronx Tale" and "Blow" have gotten plenty of recognition on these boards, if not by the general public.
My nominee for the all-time most underrated crime movie (and underrated truly great movie) is "True Confessions."

Blow definitly changed the story up. it left you feeling sorry for George when in reality he was a drug king pin who deserved everything he got. What really makes the movie is the music.

I just found a used DVD copy of Bronx Tale from Gamestop, still need to watch it.

Blow, however, is an excellent movie. It definitely defeats Scarface when it comes to "cinematic masterpieces". I thought Scarface was OK, but it's difficult for me to get too excited about it. Though I'm not crazy about Scarface, that won't keep me from hanging up pictures in my house of Al Pacino as Tony Montana.

Rented Wannabe's one night. I thought it was ok, and it stayed interesting through the whole thing. The points I would deduct would be originality. It seemed to me like "just another mob movie" whereas it didn't have any signature scenes or parts to go by, it seems.

Other than the part where the Angelo guy pees in the guy's coke, that was classic!

A Bronx Tale has gotten plenty of recognition here, quite a bit more - and deservedly so, I think - than Blow.

And, as Turnbull knows, I agree with him 100% about True Confessions.

One of the most under-rated films of all-time IMO, and considering that it co-stars DeNiro and Duvall, it never fails to amaze me that it's not one of the most talked about films here on our BB.

Every time it comes up, it seems as though he and I are the only people here who have ever seen it.

OK, an exaggeration, but I'd be surprised if there are more than ten members or so who have.

I remember it - semed too close to China Town and a half dozen other China Town type - end of war LA corruption type movies to be a classic - but a solid picture.

Can't remember which one was the priest and which one was the cop - should give you my lasting impression - but I'd certainly watch it again.

DeNiro was the priest and Duvall was the detective. Duvall's greatest performance, IMO. That's saying a ton, given Duvall's matchless record of great performances. But the rest of the cast gives 150 percent: Charles Durning, Rose Gregorio, Ken McMillan--all brilliant.

Just to add a few films "The General" about the Irish mob (in Dublin - not Hell's Kitchen) is a pretty solid look into organized crime though a bit too sympathetic and an unpopular view of its main character

"Little Odessa", is a little film with a look at the Russian/Jewish mobs of modern times in New York

"Running Scared" (2005) is a nice action composite piece with a lot of crime with a lot of ethnic groups and a lot of action...

"The Krays" is a fabulous film about organized crime in the east end - and "The Long Good Friday" touches on the relationship between the IRA and organized crime in Britain in a great way - one of my favorite movies of all time in fact.

"The Essex Boys" is a more modern take on organized crime in England and a story driven Sean Bean feature...

"Year of the Dragon" - drags on in some spots but is a pretty good take on Chinese Tongs in NYC

True Confessions gets better with every viewing, I think; a dialogue-heavy film in which plot plays second fiddle to character dilemma. Brilliant acting all round.

I like that one a lot.

One of three films Mickey Rourke made in the mid-eighties, along with Angel Heart and the Pope of Greenwich Village (another under-rated "crime" movie, actually) which led me to believe that he was gonna be a huge star and right up there with DeNiro and Pacino.

Directed by Michael Cimino and with an Oliver Stone screenplay, I remember a great deal of pre-release anticipation, but it seemed to disappoint the reviewers and neither Rourke or the film ever seemed to attract an audience.

Good supporting cast, with John Lone as the fearless and ruthless young up-and-coming head Chinese gangster Joey Tai, and great performances by a bunch of old Chinese guys as Joey's predecessors.

I've just gotta say that I agree with the opinions of a lot of people on this board when it comes to movies, but I really thought Blow was like a poor man's Scarface, and A Bronx Tale was overly sentimental and predictable. True Confessions I find is either hugely over-rated or hugely under-rated, I found it to be a fairly good film with excellent acting but not much else. Just thought I'd have my say, to balance out the thread.

blow is a better watch than scarface, first off bcuz it is a true story and the acting and story line are excellent while scarface is a good movie but still overrated

Does a film's real-life origins automatically make it better? If anything, Scarface is more original than Blow, no?

GoodFellas isn't better than Mean Streets because it's a true story, is it? It may well be better, but that's not the reason why.

Empire was a horrible wannabe-Goodfellas.

Those are good ones that aren't mentioned here.

How about sexy Beast and The Long Good Friday?

Federal Hill and/or Amongst Friends(written and directed by Rob Weiss. Rob's Father, Carl, financed the film.(it was pretty cheap)Carl was/is a bookie.

Federal Hill was a pretty good "B" movie. Nicholas Turturro, right ? It was shot in both black and white and color, I guess the director was going for a "Raging Bull" effect.

Since this thread has been resuscitated, I nominate "Honor Thy Father" as an underrated Mob movie. It was made for TV in the early '70's, and is based on the book of the same name by Gay Talese. It covers the struggles of Salvatore (Bill) Bonanno and his wife Rosalie during the "Banana Wars" of the mid-Sixties. The book was borderline sappy--Talese was so gaga about having access to a "real" Mafia guy that he didn't recognize when Bill was blowing smoke up his you-know-what. The movie wisely leaves this BS aside and concentrates on the human drama. Brilliant performances all around: Joe Bologna as Bill, Brenda Vaccaro as Rosalie, Richard (Clemenza) Castellano in a near-identical role as Frank Labruzzo, Bill's loyal second, and the great Raf Vallone as Joe Bonanno. Great stuff!

HONOR THY FATHER is one of the better tv movies I've ever seen. Especially in the true crime genre, which really suffers, when made for tv.

I loved TRUE CONFESSIONS, and while we're on the subject of DeNiro as a priest, let's throw in SLEEPERS. Lorenzo Carcaterra has caught alot of s**t over the years about the book being a ripoff of T.J. English's THE WESTIES, and it was, but as a movie, I really liked it.

boss of bosses starring chazz palminteri
this movie was coming on one late night on tnt so i decided to watch it. it was the best tv movie ive seen so far. palminteri plays paul castellano very well n the story of big paul is as good as they can do it for tv. it details big paul and the events that led up to his death. after watching this big paul will be known to me as the last don, he was very by the book n took care of business. when gotti took over he turned the gambino family into a media circus which what really killed the mob in ny. great film to watch if u havent seen it

Blow is a great film.Underrated???Not really but probably deserves more recognition.

I love that movie. I think that the scene when Jason Patric and Minnie Driver are sitting with DeNiro may be ONE of DeNiro's best moments in acting. When Patrick is telling DeNiro what happened to them as young boys while in the home, DeNiro sits there silently listening, but his facial expressions are just magnificent in that without saying a word he makes you feel the disgust, anger and hurt that he himself is feeling inside.

Carcaterra also took a lot of shit from the government when he made that movie. The government claims that they have absolutely no record of any kind of trial like that happening, nor is there any record of the juvinile home being exposed for the abuse that went on. But Carcaterra has insisted that the story is true.

Excellent movie.

I also believe that Sleepers may be one of the first movies that Aida Tuttoro aka Janet Soprano was in.


Don Cardi

I like Jason Patric. I had no idea, until about a year ago, that he was Jackie Gleason's grandson. I guess I gotta get out more.

I like him too. And I had no idea, until your post, that he was Gleason's grandson!


Don Cardi

Yup. His mother is Gleason's daughter by his first marriage. No doubt about it, any search engine will find it for you.

Most underrated movies?Hmmm.I really like Blow but dont think its that underrated but if it is,then i would say Blow.

I agree. But I'd like to add Rhinestone, Ishtar, and Gigli to the list.

Cool forum. Since somebody mentioned the Westies earlier, has anyone seen a flick called State of Grace with Sean Penn, Gary Oldman and Ed Harris? Irish mobsters in Hell's Kitchen and a crazy, crazy gunfight at the end.

1. Road to Perdition
2. Blow
3. Carlito's Way
4. Layer Cake
5. A Bronx Tale

I just didn't buy Bologna as Bill for some reason.

Ive been saying this for quite some time that the two gangster movies that are underrated are:

A Bronx Tale
Carlitos Way

Others would have to be:

The Last Don (miniseries) parts I and II
Jackie Brown
The Youngest Godfather

I agree that Blow is a tremendous movie. It deserves lots more credit that what is has earned.

Another favorite is The Devil's Advocate.

I also liked Ronin

I'll put in another vote for Road to Perdition. A couple others I would add, and maybe they aren't underrated around here, but to the casual movie goers I know personally they don't seem to get much recognition.

-Millers Crossing
-Cop Land

Possibly another one, The Boondock Saints.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999 / Jim Jarmusch).

Not a Mafia film, or a gangster film, but an "artsy" hybrid of hip hop culture, ancient samurai codes and the Mafia. Some very well-written and -performed scenes involving them, too.

I borrowed Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai from a friend a couple of years ago and watched about half of it. Then before I could finish it he took the dvd back. I've been meaning to rent it again to finally finish it. I remember some of the scenes with the mafia sitting around talking were pretty funny!

1. Narc
2. Millers' Crossing
3. Sleepers
4. Things Change
5. State of Grace

Narc came out in 2002, it stars Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, very good crime drama. Miller's Crossing came out the same time as Goodfellas and went unnoticed, a good old fashioned Irish vs Italians prohibition movie. Pizzaboy already covered the very good movie that is Sleepers. Things Change is about Don Ameche pretending to be a Mob Boss, it was pretty good from what I remember. State of Grace had the same problem as Millers' Crossing. It has an astounding cast with Sean Penn, Ed Harris, John Tuturro, Gary Oldman, and John C. Reilly. It's loosley based off of The Westies by TJ English.

That is a good cast!

And the guy who played "Jelly" in Analyze This as a Capo for the Italians in Hells Kitchen.