Review of The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) by Jordan T — 10 Jun 2009

I DVR'ed this to watch because when I was about ten years old my friend's older brother worshipped Mickey Rourke and used this movie as a touchstone - but I had never seen it. I thought at the very least I would get an idea of what the hopes and dreams of teenage Patrick Corbett were, and at best I might see some of that infamous "potential" that Rourke was said to posses before squandering it... and possibly regaining it 25 years later.

Well, I can see why young Mr. Corbett would find an idol in Roarke - who plays it ultra cool here in highly stylized 80's suits and and ensembles. My feeling is he tries a little too hard to achieve this cool - but the movie is sometimes interesting (if often unintentionally hilarious) for the vision of 1980's NYC and the fashions of the period it presents.

Otherwise the movie is mostly a mess. Badly adapted from a novel (which I've never read), the screenplay never achieves any kind of momentum, is repetitive, and introduces characters as if they will be major but then never develops them at all.

Before I go I must comment on Eric Roberts. I can't decide if this performance explains his subsequent B-Level acting career, or whether I'm surprised he ever worked again at all after this role as cousin Paulie. The bad Italian accent, the perm, and the extremely tight pants all culminate in a scene where he meets Roarke after being roughed up by gangsters. Hopped up on pain meds and with a bloody bandage on his wounded hand and blood all over his shirt he proceeds to chew the scenery while repeatedly shrieking, "THEY TOOK MY THUMB, CHARLIE!! THEY TOOK MY THUMB!!!" Fittingly, the scene ends as Roberts (and his career prospects) fall to the floor in a feint worthy of a bad soap opera.