Deuces Wild (2002)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Absolutely brilliant

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Ok, it's a rumble movie. It's like LORDS OF FLATBUSH with half the soul. It's WEST SIDE STORY without the song and dance. It's THE OUTSIDERS without the literary writing. Sure, it's got a boatload of talented young faces, some already established, most semi-established when this released. But the script? Ugh. It's juvenile, simplistic, one-dimensional, mindlessly violent (though not graphic); something lifted from a 1960 "JD" message flick, but with better production values, including color. I gave it a six out of pity and because I like Stephen Dorff, but it deserves a five. And Brad Renfro? How did so many filmmakers see potential in HIM before he died not long after this? Bottomline: this is not an awful movie. It's not painful to watch. But it's a youth film that belongs in the 80s, not in 2003. And it doesn't deserve the actors it cast. From the list of actors, I'd guess this was a hot property when it was getting assembled, but subsequently, the writers and director let half the air out of its balloon and repackaged GREASE. Oh, and Norman Reedus? A disheartening case of one-note-johnny overacting in this particular effort. I gotta suspect that the director let the cast down with mediocre, uninspired directions to the actors.

In a nutshell the movie is about a gang war in the 1950's. Leon, the leader of the Deuces, starts the gang after his brother OD's on "junk". He vows to protect the neighborhood. The leader of the rival gang is just getting out of prison and wants revenge.The movie didn't really do it for me. The "Good Guys" weren't any more good than the "Bad Guys". Very little was shown to suggest that the Deuces really cared for the community. I suppose the writers were going for realism here, but I just didn't care which side won. None of the characters were likable, or even capable of drawing my sympathy.On the plus side the courtship between Annie and Bobby had some snappy dialog, and the acting overall was well done.

Obviously some of these people who saw this movie didn't think too highly of it. Well if you take into account that this is a movie set in the 50s...and we are watching it 50+ years later then you should probably take into account that the whole good guys vs. bad guys "routine" was all they had going on back then. Some of the so called clichés that were in the movie are only clichés to us in the here and now. It was written authentically for the time period. The actors in the film did a hell of a job in showing the passion and conviction of their characters. The writing was in fact a little underdeveloped but the overall story really pulled through.Deuces forever.

Make more of these mob movies! We love them! This picture captured the feel of the 1950's, unfortunately there was a relatively small budget for a period picture, so you are confined to the studio lot. Great young actors in roles that are unforgettable. Fairuza Balk is on the money as the South Brooklyn Street Trash girl. Never saw this because of the bad reviews, but then again Casino, got bad reviews, and that movie is the Mintedest!! Direction is good, writing is good, although the sound effects guy must have been taking drugs, how much thunder and lightning cracks can you lay on a track?!? The director commentary on the DVD is pretty lame, he sounds like he is asleep. Another problem, the movie needed more nudity, didn't people have sex in the 50's?