State of Grace (1990)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Overall this is a pretty good film. Sean Penn really nails the character and Robin Wright and Gary Oldman are exceptional as well. But the real reason this movie works and the acting meshes well is because of the exquisite music score by the great genius of Ennio Morricone (which I'm glad he finally got his much deserved oscar for The Hateful Eight). The score of this movie is so beautiful and interweaves masterfully with the film. State of Grace would not have been the film it was without Ennio Morricone's magnificent score and it's a score that you will want to listen to over and over after the film has ended. Worth the watch for the Score and Acting.

Gary Oldman's facial features don't look much like Ed Harris's; I think the casting director or whoever makes these decisions should try to find actors who have similar faces (if they're going to play siblings). And it's not original: an undercover cop. So what? Although it's been said that there's only a handful of stories and it's not the story itself but the way it's told. The slow mo shootout at the end is questionable. I mean, it's a hard core slow mo shoot out (a la John Woo/Sam Peckinpah) but why did it have to be in a bar? Why not a public place with bystanders getting caught in the cross fire? I suppose the writer Dennis McIntyre (died during the making or shortly after/R.I.P) or whoever made the decision thought it was clever to be 'circular' i.e. have an ending that relates to the beginning. And it was kind of clever and subtle. I'm very critical. Don't get me wrong, State of Grace is a decent film. I've watched it countless times over the years; I like it's themes i.e. facing your fears and the love of money as the root of evil; brother turning on brother, juxtaposed against the catholic underpinnings. And I like it's style. And I like Ennio Morricone's music; it sticks in my head. And it's well acted (possibly overacted). And the photography's good. And it's got a great line up of actors, and New York looks so good in this; captured in such a deliberate way; rarely is there sunlight; it's usually overcast/wet or at night. Phil Joanou's a thoughtful director; those tracking shots....beautiful. Come to think of it, one of the things I like about State of Grace is that it's deep, serious, somber and filled with great actors playing unpleasant, unhappy people whereas there are so many 'upbeat', superficial and shallow films and TV shows (especially TV shows). And you get to see Robin Wright semi nude. And you get to watch Gary Oldman go wild. And Ed Harris's an awesome actor. And R.D. Call (who plays Pat Nicholson) is such a good psychotic; that was good casting.

From the start the movie builds a thrilling storyline, the characters entering into relationships that are doomed to tragic ends, the protagonist torn between loyalties to two opposing interests and what have we: all the ingredients of a classic thriller. The actors, especially Oldman as Jackie, deserve special mention. The movie delivers and keeps you stuck to your seat. A trivia is that the movie's storyline is so similar to "Parinda" a Bollywood thriller but with a slightly different twist to the plot. It ought to be that this movie lifted the theme from the Bollywood one, as that ( Hindi) movie was released in 1989.

Finding and watching "State of Grace", a more-or-less standard story of a crime drama set in all places of New York was actually surprisingly delightful. The story takes a back-seat to a great group of actors and a no-nonsense script. The music has sort of a noir-ish tinge, and there's a lot of late eighties New York scenery, but thanks to a younger crowd of solid actors including Harris, Penn, Tuturro, and most especially Gary Oldman, this movie keeps it moving and is never really dull. The opening setup and closing bravado were effective and well-done, and the clash of situations felt tense. On the whole, only the love relationship didn't quite work in the movie. While this may be where Penn and Wright met (assuming), the script doesn't seem to know what to do with the Wright character, "Kate". Still it's a movie I hadn't heard of and found just browsing. A good movie, better than many and Recommended.