Jonathan Hensleigh’s film about Danny Greene, the legendary Irish criminal from Collinwood who proved so hard to kill, is a solid B movie, and Ray Stevenson, as Greene, gets an A. The link between Sean Connery and Liam Neeson, Stevenson is better than the movie. He’s charismatic from the start, making Greene a nuanced, sympathetic figure despite his murderous talents.
Filmed in Detroit, when Michigan gave movie makers more tax credits than Ohio, Kill the Irishman is largely riveting, though it takes liberties with biography (like making Greene a single-marriage guy rather than a three-timer), depicts scenes that will jar local residents (like siting a dentist’s office in Brainard Place, accurately named but inaccurately contextualized in downtown Detroit) and serves up dialogue that will make you cringe.
The worst offender is toward the end, just before Greene’s car (and Greene) are bombed to smithereens. A group of kids on bikes approach him, one saying, "Are you the guy we’re hearing about?" The kid says he wants to be just like him, and Greene says – would you believe? – "No, you don’t." Then Greene gives him the Celtic cross necklace bequeathed him by crotchety neighbor Grace O’Keefe (a nicely bedraggled Fionnula Flanagan), who tells him he might be the Celtic warrior he imagines himself to be.
The syrup runs thick in that scene (shades of that Mean Joe Green Coke commercial) and in most of those involving women. When girlfriend Ellie O’Hara (Laura Ramsey) tells him she doesn’t “want to be safe, I want you” after Greene installs a bulletproof door in their home, the gorge rises. Otherwise, Hensleigh’s screenplay is pretty good.
What’s also good is the pacing of a story tracking Greene’s rise to power on Cleveland’s docks, his alliance with Teamsters boss John Nardi (richly portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio) and his competition with Mafia underboss Jack Licavoli (courtesy of veteran character actor Tony Lo Bianco, whose sideburns make him look a bit penguin). Ultimately, the movie is about the dissolution of Cleveland’s Mafia due to police work, investigative reporting and Greene’s stubborn, independent operations.
When Greene is busted for corruption in connection with his Teamsters work, he makes a deal with loan shark Alex
“Shondor” Birns (the deliciously unctuous Christopher Walken), who hires him for “debt collection.” At the same time, he tells the law he’ll provide inside information on the Mafia. Walking this tight wire becomes hard, and his first wife, Joan (Linda Cardellini, tough and trim) leaves with their kids.
Greene, who has shown a propensity for liberal political views, vegetarianism and mysticism, retreats into his trailer until he comes across a more compliant soul mate, Ellie. By then, the arc of his life is going down, and because the facts of Greene’s career are well known in Cleveland, the ending is predictable.
Still, the film is vastly enjoyable. Hensleigh keeps the action going, the periodicity is good (those big old Detroit automobiles are cool, particularly Greene’s Cadillacs, though I wondered why Joan drove a ’55 Ford in a mid-'70s movie) and the acting is uniformly credible – at least. At times, I felt I was watching Goodfellas and The Sopranos, as actors such as Paul Sorvino and Steven Schirripa (he makes a great garbage hauler) reprised attitudes, if not roles.
Kill the Irishman lacks the stylishness of a Scorcese mob flick or the grittiness of an Elia Kazan social study, let alone their budgets. What it does have is an unbelievable story, a memorable star turn by Stevenson, high-caliber acting throughout (a beefy Val Kilmer is terrific as Greene’s Collinwood buddy, the cop Joe Manditski, based on former Cleveland detective and police chief Ed Kovacic) and, paradoxically, a palpable affection for a city that made national headlines for violence and corruption.
Produced by Tommy Reid and based on Rick Porrello’s book, To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia, this movie isn’t a valentine to Cleveland. But it pays this city due respect, with swagger to spare. Watch the official trailer on page two...
