The story concerns the funeral of one of three brothers in a family of gangsters that lived in New York in 1930s. Details of the past of the brothers and their families are shown through a series of flashbacks.
Film after film, Ferrara and St. John are finding new ways to scream.
– Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Now here is a gangster movie that does not want setups or payoffs like traditional gangster movies.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
You're engaged on a moral level rarely found in movies about violence.
– Desson Thomson,
Washington Post,
22 Jan 2002
fresh:
[Ferrara] still finds sharp new ways to explore the nuances of a trite-sounding story.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
30 Aug 2004
fresh:
Though directed in different style, thematically, this period movie is a companion piece to King of New York and The Bad Lieutenant, forming an urban crime trilogy and representing Ferrara's best work.