The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

Written by Vincent Patrick (based on his novel of the same name)

Directed by Stuart Rosenburg

            I watched this one based on a recommendation by my Papa Jimbo (he’s really my grandfather, no jokes), and ended up really liking it, although it took me a while to get to that conclusion.

            The plot is a little congested, so bear with me.  Charlie (Mickey Rourke) is fired from the restaurant that he manages because of something his cousin Paulie (Eric Roberts) does.  Paulie has connections in the Mob, and soon learns that the Mob boss who owns said restaurant has $150,000 in his possession.  Paulie also has connections in the horseracing world and knows somebody who has a cup full of horse sperm from a winning horse.  He knows people that are involved with horse breeding, so he pays them to take the sperm and use it to enpregnate a winning female horse, so they can have a superbaby.  Soooo, when they both get fired, they decide to enlist a friend, Barney the Irish locksmith, to help them steal the money, which they will then bet on the superbaby.

            I love heist movies.  I really do. And this one is no exception.  The protaganists need money, they contrive a plot to get some, they institute their plan, something goes wrong during the heist, they have to deal with it, and everybody is happy in the end.  No different here.  Netflix told me it was a comedy.  This is not true.  Sure, there were some laughs, but it was a lot more serious than funny.  It took me a while to get into the story though.  Maybe because it was so convoluted, maybe it was because I was intoxicated, I don’t know.  When the heist stuff started happening though, I was really drawn in.  It was nice to see Mickey Rourke when he was young, but you could still tell that his acting abilities are through the roof.  Daryl Hannah makes an appearance as the crazy bitch girlfriend.  The true standout in this flick, though, is Eric Roberts.  You probably don’t know the name, but you’ll definitely recognize the face.  He was a revelation in this.  I never knew that one of my favorite character actors was so freaking awesome.  He had charisma and emotion and it was awesome.

            Like I said, this movie was a little awkward.  It took a little while to get into it.  But once it really starts, you’re gonna love it.  I always love Mickey Rourke, and he’s always excellent, and here it’s no different.  If I had to rate it, I’d give it a solid B.