SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

An Exercise In Nonsense

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Sometimes, even under the best circumstances, and with the best intentions, certain projects misfire. Such is the case of "10th and Wolf", directed by Robert Moresco, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Allan Steele, is a movie that probably went to video soon after its initial release, or so it seems by the scant comments to the IMDb site. A popular film will get an enormous amount of submissions, something this one hasn't garnered.The film is not horrible, by any means. The creators have tried to capitalize on the crime genre without good results. Everything in paper must have looked better than the finished product, owning perhaps to Mr. Moresco's trying to outdo himself with characters that are, by now, like a cliché. Fans looking for a violent film will have no problem liking "10th and Wolf" because there is enough blood to please everyone.Giovanni Ribisi plays a larger than life role as Joey, the bad kid with connections to the organized crime he experienced since an early age. His acting is a bit over the top; he is not too believable. James Marsden's Tommy is even more of a puzzle because having seen war first hand and having suffered a gun wound, it would have been enough to make him stay away from that scene. The late Brian Renfro shows traces about his own demise because of a drug problem. Dennis Hopper and Val Kilmer cameos don't add anything to the story.One wishes the director and his cast better luck next time and while the movie doesn't live up to its promise, it will please an audience that will see it for what it's not.

This is one of those films that gives the impression it is written by someone who is more a fan of the genre than a practitioner. It contains all the usual elements found in these 'tough' and 'gritty' crime dramas – the questionable loyalty between hoods who have grown up together on the mean streets of the city's slums, the psychotic gangster, the tough but vulnerable single mum, the doting mother, the sleazy clubs, the random acts of violence, the pop music soundtrack – but never once comes close to showing any signs of originality.James Marsden – as anonymous a leading man as you are ever likely to find – plays the son of a mobster drummed out of the marines for stealing a jeep and going after Saddam on his own when the US call off the Gulf War on the dictator's doorstep back in '91. He is offered a deal by shady cop Brian Dennehy (looking surprisingly trim but worryingly frail) to help put away a mobster from his old neighbourhood in return for his freedom from military prison. Returning to his old haunts, he falls in with his slightly feeble-minded brother and his cousin – ably played by Giovanni Ribisi – who is about to embark on a gang war with the mobster in question, which leads to the usual conflict of loyalties.After watching this I wondered not only why I bothered watching it through to its inevitable conclusion, but also why anybody bothered putting up the money for it. The script is pedestrian at best, and the storyline never wavers from a path that is as predictable as it is dull. Only the quality of the acting, and especially a blistering performance from Ribisi, make this worth watching at all. Well – that and the unintentionally hilarious death scene of one-legged gangster, Julian.

It had a legitimate cast, though I was a little disappointed in the screen time of some of the actors and you can figure out which ones I'm referring to if you have also watched the film. It seemed to take some time in getting around to the heart of the story, particularly at the beginning. And there may have been some parts that did not need to be included, but it was still more than watchable, notably in large part to Giovanni Ribisi. He is more believable in this role than most people including myself would give him credit for. It is Ribisi, in fact, who is the star of this film, not Madsen. Madsen just has the "central character" role. Yet Madsen I felt did not screw up his part. He just wasn't interesting. His character screamed one-dimensional and static just like most "good guy" roles do. He wasn't even a good guy. There weren't any good guys here. Not him, not La Cosa Nostra, not the Sicilian and his Mafia, and certainly not the FBI agents. The Feds were, after the Sicilian Riggio naturally, the worst lying backstabbing scum of the show. And you know what? I didn't mind the fact that they were all evil. Because 90 percent of the human race is and the other 10 percent don't care enough to do anything about that fact. Now that's realism on the silver screen. The ending left me feeling satisfied and even a little sad which is not a bad thing. It must mean I actually cared about the characters. And yes, I'm buying this one. My only gripe is that it didn't get some large financial backing behind it and go wide release. But from Lion's Gate, that isn't too surprising. They lacked the bankroll to make "10th & Wolf" into a "Godfather" and that is a true pity. That being said, it is a decent picture.

If you've seen DONNIE BRASCO, you've seen parts of 10TH & WOLF.Here we have Tommy (James Marsden, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND) trying to set his life straight. After finding out that his father was a hit-man for a local boss, Tommy soon sees him gunned down on the street. Twelve-year-old Tommy never forgets this and once eighteen, joins the marines and is whisked off to the Persian Gulf. He fights the war his country tells him to fight, only to learn that they can't go into Baghdad and capture Saddam in the end. Tommy loses control of himself, hits an MP, and steals a colonel's Jeep. Now in hot-water, and facing a court martial, he is shipped back to the brig in the U.S. where he's approached by Agent Horvath (Brian Dennehy, COCOON) of the FBI. Tommy is told that what remains of his family is in danger. His brother Vincent (Brad Renfro, GHOST WORLD) has fallen in with a friend's "business." This friend is Joey (Giovanni Ribisi, THE GIFT) who's attempting to become a boss of his own. The hitch is that Joey also saved Tommy's life once, and Tommy loves Joey like a second brother. Agent Horvath explains that another wannabe boss in the area needs to be caught on tape with incriminating evidence so that they can put him away. Joey and Tommy's brother Vincent will be given an easy deal IF Tommy cooperates.Tommy returns to 10th and Wolf, his true home, and rekindles his friendship with Joey. But once in tight with him, Tommy's values toward family and friends comes creeping up. That he cares deeply for Joey is all too evident; he may even care more for Joey than he does his own brother, something that is touched on in the film.In the end, Tommy has to make a tough decision that is supposed to save his brother, but put Joey in harms way. Not willing to let Joey go through the danger alone, Tommy accompanies him into an explosive situation, only to learn that his brother Vincent's mortal coil may have been shed already.Although fairly predictable, the story has some wonderful acting moments. Giovanni Ribisi was flawless as the cocky start-up Joey. Every scene he was in felt electrified. There's one in particular that stands out. It is where he and Tommy stand near a fence toward the end of the film and Joey speaks of trust and those who wear wires for "the good guys." It is a very touching and dangerous moment, because the audience doesn't know if Joey is going to kill Tommy or if his cold heart actually has a place for Tommy in it.That there aren't any "big bosses" around adds a tension to the flick that is often lacking in other more gratuitously violent mafioso movies. Joey and another small time crook are trying to become godfathers of their own in the small community, and it is their battles with the past, as much as with each other, that makes this film stand out above its predecessors.