Review of State of Grace (1990) by Steven B — 18 Jul 2009

Prior to watching it, I was thinking the best part about State of Grace would be the acting, and I was right. I was surprised, however, that it was also a very fun story for a modern mob movie. The plot reminded me of 2006's the Departed, only it was a more streamlined and easier to follow.

There were only a few core characters - not a lot of names to really keep straight. The performances were solid, but the one that really stood out was Gary Oldman as Jackie Flannery. This is easily one of Oldman's top 3 performances of his younger days, and arguably best in his career.

Jackie is the brother of the head of the Flannery's (Ed Harris) the Irish mob in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. He's the kind of guy who always has a drink in his hand and could snap at any moment.

But his mood swings back to good guy pretty quick and he's acting all chummy with Terry (Sean Penn). This is the movie where Sean Penn met his future wife Robin Wright, who plays the Flannery sister, Kathleen.

She wants no part of the mob life, having moved uptown and has a respectable job in a hotel. It is partly through her that the story finds some moral grounding, since she her viewpoint is from that of a law-abiding citizen who comes from a mob family.

I have to say that it's a shame that the "twist" that comes part way through the story is given away in most plot synopses. If you haven't heard of it, see it now before it is spoiled for you.

I can't give State of Grace a perfect rating, since it isn't too impressive cinematically and contains some directorial gimmicks (such as a climactic shootout scene that is almost totally in slow motion.

) The highlights are the acting and the music. In addition to the actors already mentioned, there are good performances by John C. Reilly, John Turturro, Burgess Meredith, Joe Viterelli, and R.D. Call.

As always, composer Ennio Morricone can't go wrong. It's almost as if he took his score of "Cinema Paradiso", from two years prior, and tweaked it to fit the themes of a dark and romantic urban drama.

There are also some rock songs of the period that work well including U2's "A Trip Through Your Wires" and Guns N' Roses's "Sweet Child O' Mine".