MovieChat Forums > State of Grace (1990) Discussion > Five Reasons Why I Love This Flick

Five Reasons Why I Love This Flick

posted 22 years ago by JoeyTwoTimes
56 replies | jump to latest

Five Reasons Why I Love This Flick:

1) A Donnie Brasco-ish story about the undercover cop slowly getting pulled into the Mafia life...except this time it involves the Irish mob. I am a HARDCORE mob movie fan and I think it was high time for a realistic look at the Irish mob for once. Anyone out there who knows of other Irish mob flicks please let me know.

2) Sean Penn gives a STANDOUT performance as the troubled undercover cop. Excellent job.

3) Gary Oldman kicks ASS as Jackie Flannery and I would compare it to his maniacal Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy with shades of the nutty DEA agent role from The Professional. I love Gary Oldman and look forward to every flick he puts out.

4) Ed Harris---BLOCKBUSTER performance as the coldblooded yet conflicted boss of the Irish mob crew...ever since Glengarry Glenross i have watched Harris kick ass in role after role. Boy, does he ever get a chance to show the acting chops in THIS one.

5) A fantastic supporting cast including John Turturro, John C Reilly, Burgess Meredith, and Robin Wright Penn who plays Penn's ex-squeeze and new love...and who in real life actually closed the deal and married Sean.

I know Sean Penn has been taking it on the chin for his anti-war views...I don't frankly give a left sh*t about his politics, i just want to see him put out more flicks like State of Grace. I'm psyched i am finally able to own it on DVD. It gives me the WILLIES to watch my favorite movies on....(blech dare i say it) ...VHS.

9 out of 10 stars

[–] 22 years ago

[deleted]

[–] johnny_calhoun 21 years ago

The dvd I got for ten dollars at walmart only had a theatrcle Trailer on it.

[–] doyles 21 years ago

The scene in the train with Sean Penn and his boss, Nick- some of the best lines ever in a gangster movie: "I thought you Kitchen guy's were tough!! "We're not tough nick, we're just crazy". The other great line is "I'm Irish muscle for hire, we get drunk and shoot people". This is an all time graet movie-

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] shmrck78 21 years ago

There really are no other good Irish Mob movies but there are two great Irish Mob Books. One is the "Westies" (which is about the Noonan and Co. in the 70's and 80's) and the other is "And all the Saints" (which is about the famous Irish Mobster Owney Madden in the 20's and 30's. Great books.

"Hey, how come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be anarchy!"

[–] drpc-1 21 years ago

"Road to Perdition" is another Irish mob film which is pretty good.

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dancrowther515 20 years ago

Don't Forget "The Devil's Own" with harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. It's not as good as State of Grace but DEFINITELY worth seeing as a fan of the Irish mob genre.

[–] matt-799 20 years ago

I did enjoy the Devils Own but isnt Brad Pitt in the IRA rather than the Irish Mob?

[–] chickenhug 19 years ago

ira irish mob same thing, other good movies are boormans the general about the legendary martin cahill, the long good friday though more of an english film, michael collins and john ford s the informer.

[–] aborted 18 years ago

No, the IRA and Irish Mob are not the same thing at all. That was a terrible movie, and Brad Pitt's Irish accent was terrible.

[–] tom40 18 years ago

Thats not Irish mob, thats IRA

[–] lostlocke 17 years ago

the five reasons i love this film.........
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Guess that pretty much sums it up!!
All kidding aside this film was great and not just because of Gary Oldman although as you can see he is one of my favorite film actors!

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kooyong2003 21 years ago

Great movie that never gets the credit it deserves. Outstanding acting.

[–] section 4 21 years ago

Does anyone else think the gunfight at the end of this movie is one of the four or five best ever put on film?

It's good. Very good.

[–] bannerman12 21 years ago

Everything about this movie is class.......gunfights, the cast, even the tomatoes that are eaten out of the can :)

[–] marty65 20 years ago

Glad someone else noticed too, right up there with Peckinpah at his best. One of my all time favourite films also. Glad to see there are so many other people who loved it. By the way,was this a one off hit by Phil Joanou or can anybody recommend any other of his movies? Thanks.

[–] phil-cliffe 19 years ago

Absolute class - predates the whole mid-nineties Hollywood slo-mo shootout revival and totally shames just about every one I can think of in the process (including a couple of John Woo's later efforts) In fact, whereas words like "operatic" and "balletic" and comparisons to Peckinpah are usually liberally thrown into the mix by the hacksters and critics, with State Of Grace it's a spot-on assessment. You really believe that - for Penn's character Terry Noonan - it really is the end of the line and he's got nothing left to lose (clutching that paper bag like the whole world's trying to take it away from him) And can you think of a nastier piece of work than the brilliant RD Call ??? Me neither !!! I have to say, though, that when I rushed out to see Joanou's second effort 'Final Analysis' I was thrown into confusion and disappointment. State Of Grace, though, is a masterpiece and criminally underrated even now. And what about that great Patrick Doyle score? And what about the opening title sequence of the Saint Paddy's parade in slow-motion ? And what about one last great performance from Burgess Meredith ? I could do this all day ...

[–] apple_hammer 19 years ago

actuallu the score was done by ennio morricone

[–] cheyna23 18 years ago

magic1 said: gotta love the scene where Oldman and gang are about to burst into the Italian restaurant to blow everyone away till at the last sec they are waved off and have to "sneak" away down the street toting their uzis and arms under those trashy 70s leather coats....

Yeah, that's my favorite scene. I think that was what made Frankie decide to kill Jackie, more than anything the italian guy said to him.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lohan_m 21 years ago

Another great Irish Mob book is "Black Mass". It is non-fiction, and written about James "Whitey" Bulger and his Irish Mob in Boston. Details hios operation (somewhat) and how he was able to corrupt the FBI. Definately a good read, I recommend it for anyone. Very hard book to put down, once you start reading it.

[–] 21 years ago

[deleted]

[–] RideDeca 20 years ago

Boondock Saints is realy good. I dont know if its really an irish mob movie but its prity close.

[–] martincapone4alcapone 20 years ago

I wish they made a movie like the godfather but based on the irish.

[–] UESC_Marathon 20 years ago

Gunfights don't come much better then the one at the end of this movie.

PS: Does Sean Penn die at the end? I think he could prolly survive...

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mlboyd 20 years ago

Gary Oldman owns this movie. Every scene he is in....he steals!!! I just watched it and loved it.

I'll watch any movie with Oldman, he always gives me shivers (in a very good way!).

[–] sweetva1117 18 years ago

I was wondering the same thing. Does Penn die in the end?

[–] for_the_ages 19 years ago

Boondock Saints is a pale comparison to any other gangster flick for many, many reasons. Take a look at "Overnight", a recent documentary about the filmmaker, and you'll see how much crappiness that movie spawned from.

Good Irish mob movies: in either Ireland or US, State of Grace is up there. Devil's Own is an IRA movie, not Irish mob. I would suggest Ash Wednesday, although not really that good, it is along the same vein as State of Grace. Southie is another mediocre Irish mob movie.

A really good small Irish-American gang flick is Monument Avenue, with Denis Leary.

Of course, there are crime movies, not necessarily Irish mob, like The General, or James Cagney movies like Angels with Dirty Faces, etc.

[–] tgl-3 20 years ago

When you mension a book I dont care about the title I wanna know the author.

[–] matt-799 20 years ago

Ive bought Blackmass recently but havent yet started it. At the same time I also bought "Street Soldier" by Ed McKenzie - one of Whitey Bulgers crew - a very good read (and its nice to read about non Italian Mobsters - not that i dont read those books aswell lol)

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] johnb-56 19 years ago

One of the best mob movies... period! Penn, Harris & Oldman at their best. Even though the movie was made 3 years later, Oldman's performance reminded me of his performance as the pimp in True Romance (Although it was a small role, he made every second of his screen time memorable).

Perhpas with one exception, there really are no scenes in this movie where you're forced to suspend disbelief. Every scene is well constructed and they come off as very believable. The only scene I found fault with was when they pulled Stevie's body from the river while Terry and Jackie stand dockside watching. How did they identify the body beforehand if they were just then pulling Stevie from the river?

"The Devil's Own" was also a very good flick. Brad Pitt's performance in that movie was probably underrated (just as it was in Kalifornia). Pitt was a member of the IRA dealing with underground weapons dealers in New York, but the movie has a mob-like feel to it.

But if you like mob movies and/or movies from an Irish perspective, treat yourself to "State of Grace"!

[–] malismad 19 years ago

i saw the film the other night an i thought it was great. But i have to say that the devils own was the biggest pile of yang ever. For someone who lives in N.I, pitts performance and accent were complete keeky bobo. The only actors who ever nailed the accents were Pete Poselthaite and Daniel Day lewis in In the name of the father. Pitt was good as an Irish gypsy in snatch however(in that his accent is so bad it's good) I agree also that there are no other good irish mob movies out. Road to Perdition??? lol. Tom hanks will always be forest gump to me.

[–] Knoxvicious 19 years ago

Five reasons why i like this movie

1.) Gary oldman

2.) Gary oldman

3.) Gary oldman

4.) Gary oldman

5.) Gary oldman

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kjartankinch 19 years ago

Absolutely agree

The gunfight at the end of this film is THE BEST SHOOTOUT SCENE EVER in a film. period.

[–] tornadobob 19 years ago

Damn straight. I love Sean Penn FOR his anti war stance. Incinerating over 100000 Iraqi civilians is WRONG.

[–] Flowbeer 19 years ago

I agree, I think its one of the best Irish mob films ever. I saw it 15 years ago, and yet I can still watch it over & over to this day!
The Gary Oldman scenes are the best, because, in every scene, he's drinking! Either quaffing a beer or gulping on a pint of Canadian Mist while driving that beat-up Cadillac through Midtown, it's just perfect! The part with the hands in the freezer? Awesome. Shooting the Heineken bottles off the rooftop? Priceless! The old guy, Borelli? Scary! "You're making my guy nervous. Have a canoli!"
He gets crazed until the day his brother betrays him. Penn rules his scenes too...And Robin Wright? Wow, thanks for the side-tittie shot, Mr. Director!
(I just read that his brother was found dead, so RIP Chris!)

[–] !!!deleted!!! (1523833) 19 years ago

HAHAHAHAHA! That's what I was going to say, but you beat me to it, jess! And I loved the scene with the frozen hands, too!

<<Five reasons why i like this movie

1.) Gary oldman

2.) Gary oldman

3.) Gary oldman

4.) Gary oldman

5.) Gary oldman >>

[–] dinojrfrk2 16 years ago

GARY OLDMAN!! x 5 for me!