Made Men (1999)

Great thriller

Made Men (1999) is two steps away from being a one-dimensional, lethan shoot
'em up action movie, adrenalin and caffeine packed; saved from that perilous
classificaton by the sense of humor of the actors, the charisma of the cast,
the chemistry on the screen, and sense of maturity overall in the acting.

The work clearly succeeds in taking the viewer in a time and space displacement,
to a small town called Harmony, in the Mid-West USA, where agricultural
properties are immense, and fertile. The psychological portrayal
of a small farm community, made up of perhaps 5,000 people, almost all farmers,
moonshiners and laborers, is convincing, despite minimal.

The marketing of this movie, suggests a theme related to the Sicilian Mob
or its legacy, or even, of the underworld. Yet, that is 180 degrees from the
real content of MADE MEN, as it has no European or Sicilian legacy, and no
sophistication shown in terms of "organized" subcultures, in the sense of the
the known NYC Families, whatsoever.

Those who financed this movie, wanted entertainment, and hired people who
excel in that aspect, and they professionally succeeded.

The quality of the filming - essential - is beyond reproach, with crisp,
focused, well edited sequences, coupled with panoramic wide-screen images that
are pleasing to the eyes, in terms of viewes getting a feel for the town, the
time and place of the action.

The special effects, are fantastic and incredibly real, which is remarkably
impressive for the otherwise mundane places where those occur, such as in
barns and around a farm. Still, those spectacular special effects could have
been improved, had more attention to detail been done. For example, the
wipeout of the police officer's car, later shows bald, cracked, worn tires - who
believes the PD doesn't fund yearly tire changes on the entire fleet ?!
Watching Timothy Dalton, playing a Sherrif in a redneck county, is a treat in
itself, with a stereotypical tough, no-nonsense approach, yet subtle and
laughable in the euphemistic brutality which with he enforces the law in
thatcommunity, going beyond lawful boundaries, as he gets involved with a
remarkably charismatic woman, played by Vanessa Angel, in trying to seize the
nest egg for himself, from a criminal, played by Belushi, .

Jamie Harris plays the Australian anarchist, in the spirit of the Sex Pistols
musical tradition, a low IQ, short tempered small time criminal, bringing some
color to the crew, some contrast, deliquency and globalism to it.

Carlton Wilborn is reminiscent of Wesley Snipes, who could have played the part
to perfection, surely, yet ... too small and insignificant a part for that actor.

Michael Beach's presence, perhaps underestimated, is a kind of role model for
those viewers, who want to see the Black man here, as being the only relatively
honest person among the gang, most who are out dealing lies and building
houses of mirrors, in order to get a final grasp on $12 million of Mob cash,
until his status as an undercover FBI agent is settled.

The actors and script writers go out of their way to mix comedy with the hard-
hitting hand to hand combats, etc

Clearly, more could have been done in the soundtrack department, as its
inconsistent, with some moments, effective Ry Cooder-like slide guitar while
other times, synth TV stereotypical audio, (dime a dozen audio) is played

Realistic elements are brought to the forefront, such as gangs running moonshine
operations, in this case of amphetamines) and other action scenes, such as knife
and physical blows, bloods packs going off (though minimal), seizing the the
Sherrif's vehicle, etc makes for a very good action movie for this type of
audience.


June 19, 2008

GREAT ACTION!!

IT WAS A MOVIE THAT I SEEN ON SHOWTIME,AND I HAD T OWN IT!!,
VERY FUNNY & ACTION PACK.

I MUST SEE MOVIE!! March 25, 2006

A thriller with some highlights!

A thief decides to make a risky journey without return: to steal the great Boss. That premise will be this sparkling point for this thundering who reminds us the first stage of The Cohen Brothers and Quentin Tarrantino.

Not a classic but who minds?
February 25, 2006

Action, double-crossings, and $12 million bucks!

Well, it is defintely action packed! To add to it, Vanessa Angel is always a sight to see and Belushi (just as Will Smith) has to put some of his comical wit throughout the flick! After being placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program, Belushi starts making plans with wifey Angel and some stolen bucks($12 mill) until the feds, the cops, the mob and some backwoods buddies start coming after him. Good lazy Sunday (early) afternoon flick to watch before a baseball or football game July 2, 2001

Action, double-crossings, and $12 million bucks!

Well, it is defintely action packed! To add to it, Vanessa Angel is always a sight to see and Belushi (just as Will Smith) has to put some of his comical wit throughout the flick! After being placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program, Belushi starts making plans with wifey Angel and some stolen bucks($12 mill) until the feds, the cops, the mob and some backwoods buddies start coming after him. Good lazy Sunday (early) afternoon flick to watch before a baseball or football game July 2, 2001

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