Shakespeare meets the Mob in this gangster thriller whose storyline - and character names - parallels closely the events in the Bard's tragedy Macbeth, even if the moral line of the Scottish play is totally ignored. John Turturro is riveting as New York gangster Mike Battaglia, who polishes off a nest of rival mobsters, much to the pleasure of padrino Charlie D'Amico (Rod Steiger, doing his heavy number). If you have studied your Shakespeare, you will remember that Lady Macbeth is the one who fires our anti-hero's ambition, and so it is here, in the form of Katherine Borowitz (the real-life Mrs Turturro) as the ruthless Ruthie. Other parallels are less convincing, notably a weird psychic (Lilia Skala) replacing the three witches and the silly update of the sleepwalking scene. The plot rattles along to the inevitable conclusion and, as long as you don't expect any more than a basic gangster drama, works well (if you forgive some laughable dialogue) and looks good (especially the spooky nighttime photography). A respectable debut for writer/director William Reilly.


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