Kill The Irishman

I got this movie on DVD years ago at a local video store. Been waiting for it to go Blu Ray for a long time. Now it finally has, an I couldn't be more happy! Not your typical mobster movie. Highly recommend the movie!

A great movie.

Very interesting movie about the mob in Cleveland.

There are a few things that drew me to Kill the Irishman - my interest in organized crime films in general, the fact that I am of Irish (and Italian, as it were) ancestry, Ray Stevensons moustache in this movie, but most of all Ray Stevenson himself. Ever since watching him as Titus Pullo on the HBO show Rome, he has been one of my favorite actors hands down - very few actors have the impeccable ability to handle "tough guy" roles with an inherent vulnerability like Stevenson most effectively did on Rome. Unfortunately, the most of the rest of his filmography is less than stellar, though I will say I very much enjoy Punisher: War Zone from a B movie perspective. However, I was seeing some good things about his performance in this movie I had seen advertised a few years back, Kill the Irishman, which appeared to have been a direct to DVD release. After taking a look at the trailer and loving it, I knew I needed to see this movie, and was very eager to get my hands on it.When I did, I wasn't disappointed, despite the fact that Kill the Irishman is admittedly not a great film. Some of it is simply due to the apparently small budget of the film, but certain scenes can be a bit hokey, albeit not so much in a poorly made, cringeworthy way so much as in a B action movie sort of way, which is fine on its own. Except that I was expecting this to be more of a B action movie, when in reality, when the film buckles down and takes its surprisingly more serious dramatic turns it does them very well. The final scenes of the film in particular had me near tears, which I was not expecting at all from this film, and are a further testament to the tough yet vulnerable type characters Stevenson plays exemplary, and his performance as Danny Greene here is no exception. As cold blooded as Danny can be in his work, you really get the impression from this he was a good man outside of it, who cared for the people around him and a certain unique, distinctly Irish persona that drew people to him. I found myself rooting for Danny even when I probably shouldn't have been, so as always, Stevenson won me over here.The rest of the cast does well enough, though Val Kilmer in particular seems to have phoned in his role. But for the quality of Ray Stevensons acting, his character, the storyline, the action packed moments and not least of all the music - an eclectic mix of traditional Irish music and rock and pop music of the time periods - this movie is worth a watch. It's not perfect, but in an era of films bloated by overuse of CGI and forgettable plot and characters, Kill the Irishman has a distinctly old school feel to it that will surely satisfy fans of action and crime films, and even moreso, fans of Ray Stevenson who would like to see him in a good movie for a change.

Interesting story with great characters. I watched it a week ago and something kept gnawing at me and I could not pinpoint it until last night it all hit me after two bottles of cheap red wine. This film is a compilation of famous scenes from other gangster movies and it has to be intentional. Here is a quick rundown in no particular order:1. Danny beats up an Italian guy in the street while his girlfriend watches. Sound familiar. Goodfellas had the same scene when Ray Liotta beats up a neighborhood kid while his girlfriend Karen, looked on.2. Fionnula Flanagan, playing the role of a tough old Irish broad, tells Danny off and orders him to get his hands off her fence. She has that steely look in her eye that could melt iron. Familiar? It is Geraldine Page in The Pope Of Greenwich Village staring down two NYC detectives who are hell bent on searching her house.3. Danny's girlfriend, Laura Ramsey, comes on to him by exposing her breasts. Ripoff of The Godfather with Michael Corleone and his new bride in Italy.4. Steve Schirripa yells at Danny for trying to kill him in front of his family. This is a do over done on the cheap of The Godfather II where Michael Corleone goes ballistic after he is sprayed with bullets in his Las Vegas bedroom.5. The beginning of the movie has the same voice over effect as Goodfellas.6. The LA hit man murders an associate in LA by shooting him from the back seat of a car while he sits in the front. This is the scene from Goodfellas where Maurie gets stabbed in the back of the neck by Joe Pesci.7. Paul Sorvino ponders investing in a cattle ranch. He did not have to rehearse this scene much as it is the same as the scene in Goodfellas where he was offered an ownership interest in The Bamboo Cottage.There are probably more copycat scenes but I would need to watch it a second or third time. But you get the drift.

I saw two movies during the past 2 nights. The first, "Battle Los Angeles" was a fun, testosterone filled bloodbath, I will admit was ejoyable enough to keep one in his or her seat (well, "his" seat anyway. That piece of entertainment cost about +/- $70,000,000 to create. It was fun as I said but I developed no emotional attachment to the charaters, the plight of humanity in the face of such an overwhelming force (consider here your attachment to Rocky, or the Rebel Alliance) and when said and done, was just a fun movie to see once, maybe again later on when you forget how it ends."Kill the Irishman", and indie-pic probably made in the single-digit millions, had outstandig acting with Ray Stevenson showing some emmotional range, Christopher Walken as, well, Christopher Walken as an antagonist, Vincent D'Onofrio and an actor who continues to grow, Val Kilmer; along with the usual stable of Italian mafia character actors. I became involved in rooting for this anti-hero and without giving too much away, wanted to reach out a hand to help him on his life's path.Absolutely engrossing, it is amazing, both films released the same day on DVD, one promoted heavily on TV, the other overlooked even when doing an internet search for "New DVD's this week". 5-10 years from now, one will be a cult-classic, the other will be all but forgotten. LEt me tell you, it won't be the $70,000,000 picture that profited in the long run.If it happened in Boston it would be up there with the greats, somethingn about the Irish anywhere else lacks a little something, perhaps I am just bias. Nevertheless, seldom is a film worth 4 out of 5 stars and if possible I would give it 4.5/5."Kill the Irishman" based on a true story, will not be a waste of your time or money. Slainte'

An Irish orphan grows up on the mean streets of Cleveland, inevitably with few prospects he ends up working as an unskilled labourer, but with a keen mind and violent temperament it's not long before he gets machinations of grandeur. He soon begins to run the local union but his next step, in cracking the Mafia is unlikely to be as simple...It surprised me this one, it's based on the true exploits of Daniel Greene (who I'd never heard of!), an American~Irish villain and FBI informant, who it seems, was operating throughout the 60s and 70s in Ohio. Who along with his gang had a complete disregard and dislike of The Mafia, which lead to an ongoing blood feud and several contract killings over the years.The cast I really enjoyed, with a number of usual suspects, like Sorvino, Lo Bianco, Gunton, Davi and Walken etc etc delivering the high standards (albeit in often typecast roles) we've come to expect from them over the years. Sure Stevenson as the lead didn't play his role with as much charisma as you'd of liked, but he was after all playing a criminal, and on the whole, these parts are far too regularly glamourised anyway. D'onofrio was really good, with Vinnie Jones' oirish accent sounding a bit dodgy, but as always he looked the part, so I'll let him alone. Leaving us with Val Kilmer, who although didn't do a bad job, was most at home in the bar scene, and I just wish he would be given the role of a dying Elvis soon, so that he might finally lose some weight!Anyhoo, there's plenty of action, mostly in the form of car bombs shredding people or guns going off, and the violent story kept me interested throughout, meaning that if you like 70s period gangster films, true stories about underworld renegades, or for that matter, productions of Celtic interest, you will no doubt like this, a lot...The bog standard dvd contains a very interesting documentary on the real Daniel Greene, with lots of talking heads who were involved in the events at the time. Recommended4.25/5.

This is a fascinating film about the Cleveland mob war of the mid 1970s and the power struggle between a ruthless gangster of Irish descent and the Italian mafia. It has an authentic 1970s feel confirmed by the excellent one hour documentary included on the disc which I recommend is watched prior to the movie. The documentary provides a valuable context to the film which projects a raw vibrancy effectively conveying the brutality associated with organised crime. I bought this film as part of an Amazon deal after reading generally positive reviews, and although not as polished as Goodfellas or Casino is still a valuable addition to the gangster genre. Ray Stevenson is excellent as Danny Greene, “a man you don’t meet every day”, a modern ‘Celtic warrior’, violent, uncompromising and fiercely protective of his neighbourhood. There is good support from many well-known actors but this is Danny’s story and therefore their roles are suitably limited.

This is based on the true story of Cleveland Ohio Irish Americangangster, Danny Green. I saw a documentary on him on Youtubeand thought this movie would be half good, I was wrong...Although there is a good cast of actors here, the plotting andstory is very weak. It seems the director has watched Goodfellastoo many times, but this film is nowhere near as good as that one.Where as Goodfellas, tells a story that cover three decades, withstyle and panache, here we get dull and cheap looking sets, withdull acting.Watch and read the really story of Danny Green, as it is moreinteresting than this boring movie.

I wasn't sure about buying this movie as it was a straight to blu ray release.how wrong was I?This film is as good as they come as modern gangster movies go and ray Stephenson plays the part of Danny greene superbly there's a great scene in the movie where a bunch of bikers move across the street from Danny and throw a party to which Danny is not happy so he goes over and politely asks them to stop to which the bikers shout a few profanities and point a gun just him (big mistake) so he goes over to his house grabs his tools and his friends go back over and show the bikers who's boss by giving them a severe pummeling.Anyway buy this film it's worth every penny and it's a great addition to the gangster genre.

A lot of people give this DVD bad reviews; I have watched it many times, via other means, so I decided to order the DVD: one of the best moves I made.Delivery quick, good quality, and a brilliant and entertaining film: far better than the Irishman film in my opinion.