robogil-1 This must have been the movie that taught Eddie Burns the lesson that casting is the most important part of getting a good performance out of your actors and making your story believable. Elijah Wood: Totally wrong for the Sean part. Ed Burns owns the Francis part and watching Elijah Wood play his younger brother is like watching a kid off the monkey bars trying to stand up to a high school bully. They are not even on the same playing field. And we are to believe that this same kid is married to Rosario Dawson. The prospect of this matchup is like watching Dudley Moore and J-Lo dating.All of the other good stuff that is going on: Period piece of Hell's Kitchen, etc., is overshadowed by the bad casting decision of having Elijah Wood be Burn's brother. Whatayagonnado? Lessons learned.

jotix100 Edward Burns' start in films with "The Brothers McMullan", heralded good things for this New York based director, who likes to depict his Irish background in his pictures. Unfortunately, his career has taken a southward detour. He hasn't done anything worthy of his talents in a while. Even with the uneven "Sidewalks of New York", he found a voice, while in "Ash Wednesday", he is doing it by the numbers.First of all, his story is supposedly based in a Hell's Kitchen that could only exists in the director's mind, as most of it is just a fantasy. Has Mr. Burns taken a tour of this part of town lately? Well, he'd be surprised in how gentrified and sophisticated it has become, quite a departure for the times when it was the turf of ethnic gangs of the 50s. For that matter, it would be hard to find a few good Irish people that are attracted to the area.Some spoilers herein.The plot is not well developed. It's hard to realize how stupid Sean is, knowing full well he is a marked man and going for a drink in the old 'hood... Oh well, he must had been suffering from cabin fever, or other similar ailment. Then, there is the story of the involvement of Francis with Grace, Sean's woman. Frances and Grace are evidently acting in two different movies as they have no chemistry. It's hard to believe these two had something going. Elijah Wood, as Sean, is badly out of place. He is totally miscast. For that matter, the director, himself, doesn't fare much better. Ms. Dawson, also, doesn't have anything to do. The assorted bad guys one sees in the film are just not believable. The other horrible thing this movie has going for it, is the silly musical theme of the few bars played on the piano. Better luck next time Mr. Burns, or perhaps on your next film why not give us an incisive view of the world of supermodels, or how can one make a lot of money in advertising since you are an expert in those fields lately?

Muveemama This was a good movie, "not a great movie" but a good one. Edward Burns role was well played yet could have offered more depth of character. The look & feel of Hells Kitchen was very well done & believable. The script didn't offer deep enough insight into the development of many of the important/power players roles, yet I thought that all of the roles were still cast very well & were all very believable. That is except Elijah Wood, even if you could get over his impeccable language skills, his too young, overly clean cut looks & complete ignorance to the ways of the neighborhood that he spent the 1st 18 yrs. of his life in. You still can't see him married to a Rican woman (which I am), remember, this is hells kitchen, not exactly a racial Eden. His brother, yes but him, no way (Not enough crust on that white bread). All & all, I still liked the movie and would watch it again & suggest it to particular cult movie followers I know. I heard allot of complaints about the language, this was not a problem for me, this is Hells Kitchen & these are not exactly bankers here (well except Elijah). I have heard that a sequel might be a possibility, I actually hope so. All of the same players "minus Elijah" with a little better character development could be something good. Maybe the first 30 minutes or so of the film devoted to developing the Ash Wednesday story from childhood to the killing, thus more fully developing all of the important players before moving on to the new story line. Good movie, deep ending, good actors, good story, but a bit underdeveloped in the last 2 areas. Still worth seeing if you like the local mob struggle/Hells Kitchen type story lines. Don't expect the Godfather & you won't be disappointed.

Morgan D Lee October 14, 2004. I viewed this film last night and I must say that I was in suspense the entire film. I truly believed that the younger brother was in imminent danger. The older brother (Ed Burns) was in danger as well. Trying to convince his brother of his stupidity was done not with yelling or shouting, but understated by a character who by his admissions had lived two lifetimes by the age of thirty. I am a movie fan who does not expect "Gone With The Wind" or "To Kill a Mockingbird" with every film I watch. This film had an excellent cast who performed beautifully. The director kept an even pace throughout because of the impending double-twist surprise ending.One gifted actor, who never gets enough credit from the public, only his peers and producers and directors is James Handy (Father Mahoney). I see him constantly appearing in one movie after another as well as numerous guest-starring appearances on TV. He was especially "despicable and conniving" on N.Y.P.D.Blue. Usually plays unsympathetic characters. He, like the rest of the cast were truly believable.I don't know whether or not you'll be talking about this film for years and years. But I do know that most of you will enjoy this approximately 90 minutes of suspenseful entertainment, will recommend viewing to your friends and may watch this film a second and third time. I know I will!!