Review of Deuces Wild (2002) by Seth R — 23 Apr 2012

Directed by Scott Kalvert (The Basketball Dairies (1995), this is a gritty drama that tries to be a throwback to the old gang films of many years ago, but it does feel a bit lop-sided in places, it comes across as a non-musical version of West Side Story.

It does have a big massive and impressive cast, but you can see why not a lot of people have seen this film. Set in the summer of 1958 in Brooklyn, it focuses on two brothers, Leon (Stephen Dorff) and Bobby (Brad Renfro), who are part of a street gang called the Deuces, and they've been having fights with the Vipers, led by Marco (Norman Reedus), who sells drugs and it was his drugs that led to the death of Leon and Bobby's brother Allie.

Marco has just come out of prison, and a gang war is looking possible which will tear the neighbourhood apart. But, things get complicated when Bobby falls for Annie (Fairuza Balk), the younger sister of Jimmy "Pockets" (Balthazar Getty), who is Marco's number two man.

But, when Marco attacks and rapes Leon's girlfriend Betsy (Drea de Matteo), a full on family feud regarding loyalty and priorities blows up, with the Deuces self-destructing from within. It's a tough film with a hard attitude, but the characters come across as melodramatic, and it ticks every street gang film cliche in the book.

It's not as bad as what the critics at the time said, but it could have been better, despite a good cast including Matt Dillon, Frankie Muniz, James Franco, Deborah Harry and Johnny Knoxville.