valleydreamin
This is a good movie. The people who are complaining about it were probably just hoping it would be a shoot em' up mob movie. That's not what this is about. This is a story about life, love, mistakes, commitment and the lies we tell ourselves. I enjoyed this movie. There's some humor, some drama, some tears. Nothing wrong with that. This is the story of a man finding his way back into a world that is nothing like the one that he left. After having spent years in prison for being a crime boss he is returned to his home to die. His neighbor, Michael Raport befriends him and tries to take care of him despite being constantly hounded by the Fed's for his friendship with the man they sent home to die. I liked the relationship between Paul Sorvino and Michael Rapaport. They have a great on screen chemistry. Maybe not the most exciting movie you'll see this year but definitely worth the 1 1/2 run time.
jimlacy2003
Without knowing much beforehand with the title "Once Upon a Time.." I first expected some epic sweeping three hour movie (like "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Once Upon a Time in America", etc).What it was instead a nice drama and part mobster movie with a nice sprinkle of humor. I don't normally like dramas but I liked this one.Being Italian my self I liked the nice positive sentiment it had about traditional Italian ways. Kind of nostalgic even.In the movies, particularly in mobster/gangster ones, you see a lot of Italians being violent, uncaring, and generally acting pretty stupid. But nothing could be further from the truth. Most Italians in America from "the old country" (the previous generation or two) are some of the most kind, loving, and sincere people you will ever meet. It's not about the "me", it's about family, friends, and making sure your guests feel welcomed, etc.With out giving anything away, I liked some of contrasts pointed out about the old and the new ways, etc.It's a little slow at points maybe, but not a very enjoyable movie if your into the occasional drama.
Richard Graham
This was billed as a comedy drama, it was neither. It was 1 hour 41 minutes of shear boredom.Bad acting, bad screenplay an all round bad movie. How this drivel got a 6.2 score is unbelievable.Do yourself a favour and steer clear of this lemon.This surely had to be a straight to DVD release as there is no way this thing could have done anything at the cinemas.It is basically a movie about absolutely nothing.The strained continuous crying scenes were pitiful to watch. The characters were one dimensional unconvincing, and just made you dislike them altogether.Some of the more fantastic scenes involved character talking to each other without any audio other than music. Extremely annoying and must be just there to pad this rubbish out a bit.
Mike Von Bach
The was a Film about a man who made choice's and lived with the decisions.He didn't always understand the impact of his choice's on the people in his life.We all have older people in our lives that won't change with the times And this film portrayed us humans making the best of it. because 1. nobodies perfect and 2. we love our older friends and relative's. I fell the way the old man felt about his daughter some goof smacks her around it would be my duty to hurt him badly which i would happily do.Like i said in my opening this movie was simple it was a love story and we all know love is painful as much as it is joyful. yin and yang can't have a up without the down.If you are looking for a action packed MOB film this is not for you.this movie was like the soprano's if i had to compare it to something.Like that series showed TONY being a mob boss it spent a lot of time showing him dealing with his crazy mom and sister.
AD
