jeeap
This story lacks a primary source of knowledge. The director is trying to tell you something he doesn't know well himself. As a son of immigrants from the USSR he is obviously interested in his roots but he doesn't bother to learn about them before speading the news. As a result you will see an imaginary community of Brighton Beach that exists only in director's mind.You will see some popular actors in this movie but not exactly a good acting from them.
Tss5078
Billed as another Goodfellas, Little Odessa is the story of a mafia hit-man returning home to do a job, as well as seeing the poor immigrant family he left behind. The story is great, the movie is not. Tim Roth is fantastic as the disowned, disgraced, murderous son. Roth always gives a very strong performance and does so again here. Edward Furlong, one of my favorites, unfortunately does not do as well. I've seen him in enough things to know, it's not his fault, it's the writing. This film is so dark and painfully slow that I barely made it through. Very little is explained and the dialog is laughable, even at times non-existent. There are huge plot holes to go along with an ending that makes little sense. The writer was trying to tell his story more through imagery and symbolism in a genre that is based on action. You can't pull off something like this without explaining more of the story and using it to move things along. It's not the worst film I've ever seen, but to be honest, I was bored from start to finish.
sydneyswesternsuburbs
Director and writer James Gray has created a gem in Little Odessa.Starring Tim Roth who has also been in other classic flicks, The Musketeer 2001, Gridlock'd 1997, No Way Home 1996, Pulp Fiction 1994, Reservoir Dogs 1992, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover 1989, Meantime 1984 and Made in Britain 1982.Also starring Edward Furlong who has also been in other classic flicks, American History X 1998 and Terminator 2: Judgement Day 1991.Also starring Moira Kelly.Also starring Vanessa Redgrave who has also been in another classic flick, The Devils 1971.Also starring Maximillian Schell who has also been in other classic flicks, Vampires 1998 and Cross of Iron 1977.I enjoyed the violence.If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic Russian crime flicks, The Mechanik 2005, Mute Witness 1994, Command Performance 2009, Running Scared 2006 and Driven to Kill 2009.
Rick Blaine
It's the camera-work which first impresses in this one. The shots are so well taken.Roth is excellent, bordering on superb, and should win the Hugh Laurie Award for the best job done portraying (and sounding convincingly like) a 'north a-merican' by a Brit.Are talents like Schell and Redgrave wasted? Hardly. More: their Russian is very good - something you wouldn't expect from a flick like this. Sometimes the language is almost overly simplistic but the accents are very good.This is a taut thriller - a scary one - and there are scenes which may have you gasping because they're so stark. As in 'Casino was a Bugs Bunny movie'. Something like that. Is this good? That's another matter. A lot of this is lent by Roth's performance - he's a cold blooded killer and he plays it with more the poker face than Hopkins in Remains of the Day.Denouement? Watch for it. When the movie's over you might miss the fact it's over. Is this a highly recommendable flick? Hard to say. Some excellent work here. But will you enjoy it? Benefit by it?That's a much more difficult question.PS. Hey IMDb! Stop correcting our spelling and giving us no chance to correct your incorrect corrections. Suggesting corrections is one thing; forcing them upon us is quite another.
AD
