Customer Reviews

Men of Respect [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

John Turturro pulls out all stops here in this gangster version of Macbeth in the 'title' role (Michael Battaglia), ably complemented by his real-life wife, Katharine Borowitz as Lady Macbeth/Mrs. Battaglia. Also contributing with great performances are Rod Steiger as the aging mob chieftain (the King), Peter Boyle, Dennis Farina, Stanley Tucci, and, in an inspired bit of casting, comic Stephen Wright. The performances are truly riveting. It's a shame that the 'expert' critics can't see the power and ingenuity of this film.

Far more than a shlock version of Shakespeare's masterpiece, it's an intense, flawless work, updating the Bard's lines with the brutal lingo of the mob. William Reilly, the writer-director, also co-wrote Mortal Thoughts, another sadly overlooked razor-sharp film. And he really knows how to write; the script here allows the performances to be as great as they are.

Don't pay attention to Leonard's totally-missing-the-boat words of condemnation. In fact, I would say, Out, out, damned Leonard. Rent this movie--better yet, buy it. You won't be disappointed.

This film is flawless. Don't let the TRULY pretentious Shakespeare snobbery of the reviewers put you off if you're fans of the mob genre or the greatest writer of all time. Done with a more modest indie budget, it compares equally with "Goodfellas" or any other example you care to name and the Shakespearean quality remains in the timelessness of human lust for power. Maltin's talking about flashlights shows a genuine density of insight, as the character is actually wandering at night in a trance of insanity. Its not about sleeping disorders, Leonard!

Turturro by the way gives this film his best performance ever and all the casting is outstanding.

This film is a very good interpretation of Shakespeare's MacBeth, transplanting it into the New York Italian American mafioso setting. John Tutturo is intense as usual as Mikey Battaglia. Peter Boyle as Irish mob boss Duffy (MacDuffy) is the final obstacle that Mikey can't clear. Especially good is the way in which Shakespeare's language has been preserved, if modified, into current day vernacular. "He has honored me of late, and I have bought golden opinions..." becomes "He's given me honor and respect here, and people are sayin' good things about me. I want it should last." Even the off beat humor of the Porter has been preserved, with a nice low key turn by Steven Wright. Students who enjoy the Sopranos will dig this film.

I thought that Men of Respect was a great rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth, for those who like Mafia movies. The screenplay did a very good job of adapting Macbeth to a mafia format. I highly recomend this movie

Just an addition to what some people have already said: part of the wonder of this movie is that it is so clearly based on Shakespeare's Scottish play, but--to my recollection at least--not one line is from Shakespeare. Yet they get the pacing and feel, the essential creepiness even, down pat. When the underling comes to report the shoot out towards the beginning (ie the "bloody man" who comes to tell Duncan the news of the battle at the beginning of Shakespeare's play), even the rhythm seems to carry through. Wonderful job. Eerie.

Men of Respect is an excellent movie. It has so many similarities and some differences to the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by Shakespeare. I would have to say the number one similarity of the two would be the characters' names. Such as Macbeth, in the movie Men of Respect, his characters' name is Michael Battaglia, and the similarity would be they have the same initials. Then there is Banquo who is Bankie Como, Macduff is Duffy, Lady Macbeth is Lady Battaglia, and so on. In the movie, as in the play, there are witches who give Macbeth and Michael prophesies. The only difference is that in the movie they are called fortunetellers. There are still three of them but instead of the three weird sisters it is a mom, pop, and son, and they are in a backroom fortuneteller's parlor, and they watch a television show on cooking a lambs head, where in the play the witches have a cauldron, which is a large kettle or boiling plot, and they actually cook a lambs head in it. Some more would be the murder of King Duncan, or as in the movie Padrion D' Amico, who is the Godfather of the mafia. Lady Macbeth and Lady Battaglia both persuade Macbeth and Michael into mudering him and are both power hungry. Lady Battaglia has visions of stains of blood, as did Lady Macbeth, but instead of saying "Out, out damn spot!" when Lady Macbeth sees the blood, Lady Battalia starts throwing linen from the tables of the restaurant off and onto the floor saying that they are dirty and have stains on them. The only real big difference is when Macduff's family is killed. He is there and the murdereres are with him, and he is on the pone while the mom and son are in the are and they start the car and it blows up. Then there is when Lady Battaglia kills herself, Michael actually cares, where Macbeth did not care too much. Other then that, there was a lot of similarities as of what they said and did throughout the movie. I recommend the movie to anyone who does not understand Macbeth because this movie truly helps and gives better definition and understanding to the play The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Men of Respect (1990) is an unsuccessful attempt to translate Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to a mob film. Mind you, I'm not averse to updating Shakespeare's classics, and films like "West Side Story" and "Throne of Blood" are excellent. But Macbeth simply does not transfer, for a number of reasons - (a) the filial relationships in Medieval Scotland are very dissimilar to the succession drama in the mob, and (b) visitation practices in Macbeth are very dissimilar to mob visits - i.e., when was the last time the capo of a mob family went for an overnight stay at one of his captains' homes?

OK, so Men of Respect doesn't translate well from Macbeth. One can still ask the question, is it a good film? Unfortunately, despite a great cast and some very good acting, the film taken by itself is seriously flawed. Right off the bat, the relationship between the various characters is somewhat confused - e.g., who exactly is "the Greek" ?

John Turturro stars as the Macbeth replacement, but he doesn't really perform well as the hen pecked husband to real life wife Katherine Borowitz. Perhaps the fault is hers, as Turturro's performance as a mobster is quite compelling, especially when he gets that wild look in his eyes. But Macbeth relies upon the power of Lady Macbeth, and previous actresses who've taken the role include Judith Anderson (1937, 1941, 1960), Jeanette Nolan (1948), Vivien Leigh (1955), and Judi Dench (1977). Borowitz is clearly not in this class.

Dennis Farina, Peter Boyle, Stanley Tucci, and Rod Steiger all put in fine performances, but the story itself is simply not compelling. Undoubtedly the problem rests not only with the inability to transfer medieval Scotland to 20th century mob, and with Lady Macbeth, but with first time director William Reilly who also adapted the play

People interested in 1990 mob films will find their needs met by Goodfellas, The Godfather Part 3, and Miller's Crossing.

If you enjoy Macbeth or if you are an English teacher, you'll really appreciate this film. Although originally and HBO movie, this is a very well crafted story.

It's not as if Men of Respect is a poor tranposition of the play Macbeth; it's just a bad mob movie. I was hoping to find a Godfather meets Macbeth, but instead got a Carlito's Way meets Macbeth. There was a reason I had never heard of this movie until recently. I should have known from the lame title.