Customer Reviews

Monument Ave. [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an unjustly neglected film. Director Ted Demme died far too young, leaving behind a solid list of films that suggested great possiblities from the mature filmmaker we will never get to see. One of the significant things about his work is that he is the only person who really understood how to use Dennis Leary. In a word, Leary is great here. His conflicted emotions about escaping the narrow confines of his violent world and the actions he takes that only ensure his failure power a character that rivals Micheal Corleone (without the operatic granduer) or John Garfield in Force of Evil. The harsh locations, the sub-culture within a subculture, the suddenness of the violence, the twadriness of the criminal enterprise are all vividly captured in a film justly called "the Irish Mean Streets".

Monument Ave. is probably one of the best films I have ever seen. Instead of the Hollywood happy ending, we have a dark and grim tale of family morals and the loyalty between being a stand up guy and a family man. Denis Leary proves he doesn't always have to play piss and moan roles and he's at his best as the reluctant Bobby. The cast is excellent with Colm Meaney as a remorseless crime boss, Ian Hart as Bobby's energetic friend, Famke Janssen as Bobby's girlfriend, and the rest of the cast are in top form. Director Ted Demme manages to get down to the bare nub of the script with the Boston accents and attitudes. This film definitely should've gotten more notice. Grade: A-

This movie is one of these small gems that manage to slip by everybody in the theatres. But fortunately, it's now available on DVD and for rental. Monument Ave. is pretty cliched in terms of it's story line about a criminal who must choose between his loyalty to his friends or that of his boss. However, the true ingenuity of the film is the dialogue. It flows off the screen in a current of truth and harsh realities that rivals that of Tarantino. Listen to it carefully. The performances are very good, especially that of Denis Leary. The way he balances comedy, which is his forte, and drama is very good. I was truly impressed with this breakout performance by him and hope to see him in more dramatic roles. Colm Meany, who plays the Irish crime boss is equally effective as a character who will be your best friend and stab you in the back at the same time. This film was directed by Ted Demme, yonger brother of Jonathan Demme, the dude that directed the Silence of the Lambs. With this film, Ted Demme again proves that he is a distinct talent, seperate from his brother.

Gritty, funny, buddies, drugs, drinkin', crime, and Denis Leary = pretty good movie. Denis is one of those guys who doesn't ever seem to be acting. He's always some version of himself, which happens to be something I like. I suppose, due to my past life I never tire of watching guys sitting around partying and discussing pointless, banal topics with fervor and passion fueled by drugs and camaraderie. I'm getting to relive my youth vicariously sans the bad health and police issues. The plot was basic enough. Vaguely gang related but in the old school way of the Irish. People going along to get along even if it hurts them and their community until the head bad guy goes too far and the hero is forced to more closely examine his life and goals. The end was predictable enough but who cares? Pretty good flick for what it is.

Monument Ave. is an excellent film though it certainly is not what one call upliftng. Leary is a coke-addicted car thief from Charlestown who rolls with his gang of buddies including his cousin from Ireland, a cab driver, a fellow car theif, and a goofy Irish bigit-type.

The film is very dark at times but there is a lot of humor as well as Leary adds some very funny stuff. This film is one of my personal favorites. It really showcases Denis Leary as the excellent actor that he can be offered the right role. This is pretty much the Irish equivalent of films such as Mean Streets.

If you've watched Rescue Me over the last couple years or seen The Job, you know the typical Denis Leary character: tough, profane, ethically and morally challenged, funny as hell, smarter than those around him but never as smart as thinks he is, and deep down, knows it, and always waiting for the roof to collapse on him, as he knows it eventually will, for he is no idiot though he acts like one 70% of the time. Leary, to me, is one of the best things on television, as is Rescue Me, clearly the equal of the great HBO shows and other FX notables like The Shield. If you appreciate Leary and the dark, tragic yet often comic sensibility he lends to Rescue Me, it would be worth your while to check out Monument Ave. Based on positive reviews in the NY Times and the New Yorker, I saw it on the big screen when it came out in 1998 along with about three other people in the theatre. Not surprisingly it disappeared in a week and is rarely mentioned when critics talk about great crime films, particularly crime films of the post Mean Streets type, a film that clearly was an influence on Monument Ave. And that might be because, like Rescue Me and The Job and Leary's other great film, also made by Ted Demme, The Ref, Monument Ave. pretends to be something it really isn't, in this case a Scorsese like genre piece. But at heart really more of a contemporary tragedy closer in spirit to something like Mystic River than Mean Streets and all the clones that film and Reservoir Dogs created. Monument Ave. has a plot of sorts--will Bobby, the small time car thief Leary plays, turn on his boss Jackie played by Colm Meany who has everyone around him terrorized into silence as his henchmen kill anyone who crosses him, leaving a host of grieving mothers in their wake. For Bobby this betrayal would mean going against a code of silence that has ruled his neighborhood--insular, parochial Charlestown, MA, fifteen minutes from downtown Boston but for Bobby and the rest of the characters, townies all, a thousand miles away for all intents and purposes--and his life. So in effect, as all tragedies, are, Monument Ave. is a morality play, where to do the right thing means going against all your culture and society has said is correct. Monument Ave. is a small film, one that appropriately enough airs every so often IFC, and has all the strengths that can come with a small film. Excellent performances by a strong cast, Leary in particular, but also Ian Hart, probably best known for playing John Lennon in both The Hours and The Times and Backbeat, Famke Janssen showing probably for the first time that she was not simply eye candy, and in one of his first screen roles, Billy Cruddup. Monument Ave. is no Chinatown or even Mean Streets, its aspirations and intents are much smaller, more economical, but as a finely tuned portrait of an imperfect character coming to some moral stance, one that carries consequences he could never envision, this is a film well worth seeing.

Dennis Leary gives an engrossing performance as Bobby O'Grady, a directionless car thief with a taste for gambling. His life is full of the same people it always has been, except for the ones who get shot in front of him, when they displease Colm Meany's (Star Trek) Irish-American equivalent of the local godfather, Jackie. But, as Martin Sheen's cop character notes, no one ever really sees these shootings, since everyone was in the bathroom at the time.

Bobby finds himself pushed to the edge. On the one hand, he derives his livelihood from Jackie's illegal enterprises. On the other, he's having an affair with Jackie's girlfriend, which alone could place him in a tragic situation while his friends are in the bathroom. In addition, he continually finds himself in debt to Jackie because of bad bets. Then there's the issue of standing silently by as his friends and relatives are killed when they break the rules. The first of which is the rule of silence. In the end, Bobby surprises everyone when he uses that rule to end the game. Not win it, but end it.

Jason Barry (Titanic) is noteworthy as Bobby's Dublin-imported cousin, Seamus. After witnessing a murder, and being told to keep quiet about it, Seamus eventually unravels telling his cousin that he wants to go back to Dublin. All he wanted was to come to America to work. But, "It never stops." The 'it' being the murders, illegal activities, and other seeminess that defines the lives of Bobby and his peers.

This is not a happy film. Even when the game ends for Bobby, there is no hope in his eyes. His solution to his problem comes to late for some, but it probably saves others. Though, not too late for viewers, who will want to do what Bobby's friends do for him in the end: buy him a drink.

This movie is one of the better street level mob flicks to come out in some time(it doesnt hurt that its about the IRISH) The dialogue & cast are superb(Leary & Barry are real standouts) & real strong character actors abound as well(sheen,meany,diehl) similiar to mean streets & state of grace(another outstanding irish mob flick w/sean penn & gary oldman) If youre a fan of scorsese & tarantino def check this movie out & if your IRISH well pour yourself a pint,slap on the pogues cock yer pistol & enjoy a real,gritty movie! & btw "remember if anybody asks you was in the bathroom"!!!!!!

I bought "Monument Avenue" on a whim. I'm a Denis Leary fan, and was interested to see how Leary performed in the role of an Irish thug type. It's a fitting role for Leary. He was properly cast as Bobby, a small time car thief. Leary excelled at the role, coming off as very authentic. I agree with the other reviewer who said Leary doesn't have to play piss and moan roles to shine.

The movie has a couple slow spots, but it's a good mobster story nonetheless.

Denis Leary sears the screen as Charlestown car thief Bobby O'Grady who becomes tangled in a web of murder,corruption, and betrayal with his local Irish Mob (run by masterful and cold Colm Meaney). Killing after killing eventually starts to disturb him - Its only when a member of his family gets killed that O'Grady must decide who truely deserves his loyalty. Extremely entertaining, underrated gangster story with truely epic dialogue. Buy it. Especially if you're Irish. You're in for a real treat.