Thread by @pdxlawyerdad

The Shamrock Run is in the books. The kids are fed and now it’s time for my other St. Patrick’s Day tradition: Jameson and Irish gangster movies. Up first is State of Grace. Primus inter pares of the genre.

The roster in State is amazing: Penn, Harris, Oldman, Wright, Reilly, Turturro, Burgess God D’Ambrosio Meredith.

Great cast.

Music by Ennio Morricone for chrissakes.

The costuming is great too. The Westies are all in that 80s prolly faux leather jackets. Their hair long and greasy. Helps convey that silent menace so well.

Terry: It’ll be up to the angels I guess.

Jackie: hmph. Them fucks.

John C. Reilly has looked the same age basically his whole career.

Just realized the earlier tweet changed Burgess God Damn’d Meredith to Burgess God D’Ambrosio Meredith.

WTF.

Harris’ Frankie is both lethal and just way out matched by the leadership role he’s in.

He’s way too open to Terry joining the ranks from the jump even though he has his version of Al Nery vet him.

He’s naive in a way that you can’t be and be a mob boss.

Love that Jackie associates yuppie gentrification with dog shit all over the steet. Great metaphor.

Arson scene is interesting to compare to the one in Goodfellas - both films came out the same year.

Jesus - Penn and Wright look so young.

What a dick move - Frankie’s killer stiffs the dude pointing out DeMarco.

Helps underscore how the Westies commit a number of unforced errors.

Also, if Frankie is the boss wtf is he doing on the bar shakedown. He’s got to insulate himself better.

Either he doesn’t know that or can’t help himself. Both/either his fatal flaw.

Also the fight between Stevie and Pat shows how goddamned disorganized they are.

Really just barely keeping things together.

Oh snap! Just realized that the Italian meeting place is the same one used by Carmine, Johnny Sack, and Phil Leotardo In Sopranos

Also Frankie goes along on a hit? Just nuts. His crew is reckless because he’s reckless.

To borrow from GI Jane: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.

You wonder what the baseline BAL for these guys is.

Great scenes between Turturro and Penn at the cemetery and the bar. Lots of work done in a short space and with few words

The church scene really hammers how broken Jackie is. Echo’s Terry’s comment to Nick: we’re not tough we’re just crazy

Penn and Wright has been married 4 years when this came out. Chemistry shows.

Tough v. Crazy again in the car as Terry and Jackie talk about using booze to manage the pain

Burgess Meredith great lines:

Don’t break that door. I gotta have a door.

I’m eating stewed tomatahs outta the can.

More Meredith: them Flannerys are black snakes and they move in the dark of the night.

More mistakes by Frankie. Has Pat plan to kill the bartender but leaves Terry? Bad impulses. Bad conclusions. Doesn’t track as the long term way to go.

Ultimately Frankie never figures that he’s running a small firm trying to merge with a giant firm that’s just exploiting the power differential. Frankie doesn’t have the brains or the discipline or the muscle to be on the same level as the Italians.

Also great tension building with the clock/watch.

Props to Joe Viterelli for delivering the “have some dessert” and “some anisette” lines perfectly. Major flex that Harris’s character should not have tolerated or else recognized he was WAY out of his depth dealing with Borelli.

Jesus. “With your permission” Harris’s character is so beaten down.

Also, when Frankie’s lying to Jackie about the Borelli meeting, he’s drinking scotch.

Clearly bad sign from the leader of an Irish gang.

Recall McNulty in The Wire when offered Bushmills: “that’s Protestant whiskey.”

Oldman really chews the furniture, but it works for his character and is it was kind of his thing at the time (see, eg The Professional, True Romance, Dracula)

They’re monsters but it’s still fucked that Frankie sells out is brother to lick the boots of Borelli’s crew.

JFC. Jackie never sees it coming.

My God - the Harris Wright scene at the wake/funeral. Emotive AF.

Wait - why is Jackie fucking blonde in the casket?!?!

Major continuity error or else his hair was way dirtier than I initially thought.

MAJOR FLEX: handing the mob boss you’ve been working for your police ID and badge

Wright does a good job of conveying how her character does care for Terry, but she is also so over his bullshit.

Going on the date is strong. She’s getting away.

Frankie losing his shit throwing bounties around. Not strong.

Totally jacked for parade scene final gunfight.

Great lead up to the gunfight.

Love the exterior of the bar Frankie and hai guys are hanging out in.

Excellent cuts from gunfight to the parade and back.

As the final boss you’d think Frankie’d be a better shot.

Also, holy hell did Terry take a lot of bullets.

It ends in media res: No resolution no big speeches. Don’t even know of Terry lives. Perfect.

@threadreaderapp unroll please