Customer Reviews

West New York [VHS]

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Director Phil Gallo makes impressive creative use of the "fly on the wall"-documentary style, if you will, and has two powerful actors to make it real. Frank Vincent and Vincent Pastore, one conflicted, sorrowful, but determined to pick up the pieces of his personal life all in one motion by selectively releasing bonds meant for the shredder, so as to provide something for his daughter who shares his grief, but not guilt, in his wife's passing.
Vincent's stoic expressions in close-up, against the New York backdrop, show Gallo's technique in the best tradition and relatable for the generation who studiously follow Martin Scorsese and "The Sopranos". Fans of the cable Tv series will enjoy seeing cast members work together about a decade back.
Trade Martin has some very good scenes. The famous songwriter ("Take Me For A Little While", many others), record Producer (for B.B. King, most notably), now adds the title of (movie) Executive Producer. His fans will be delighted to hear his *singing* voice on the soundtrack, also featuring Mike Boldt, another prominent New Jersey artist.

Tom Coletti (Frank Vincent), after losing his career as a police detective, as well as his marriage, due to alcoholism, has defeated that demon and is employed supervising the shredding of corporate bonds issued on a New Jersey bank, but when Tom becomes a victim of temptation he removes some of the negotiable issues to sell and becomes trapped between purchasing gangsters to whom he turns, and a local syndicate boss resentful that a lucrative transaction has not been offered to him. This low budget production, originally titled PAPERBLOOD, is the first effort from director Phil Gallo, also responsible for much of its script, editing, and scoring, and despite the typical visual characteristics stemming from an original 16mm. print, it is an encouraging debut for Gallo, who takes risks throughout by shifting prominence of his characters, employing frequent closeups of the New York based cast, frequently utilizing naturalistic dialogue, while even including a touch of Magical Realism for a characterization propelled plot wherein back stories have true importance and where a perception of intensity provided by all engaged moderates the melodramatic effects of some scenes.

WEST NEW YORK (1996), featuring a soundtrack reminiscent of Pink
Floyd's "Learning to Fly" in the credits, but with an overall
enjoyable Miami-Vice dose of action and synth audio, is a tense,
hyper-emotional drama. It tells the story of individuals either
currently or formerly in law enforcement, being tempted by the goods
and valuables they are charged to protect, as part of their dutues,
for personal profit in this case.

Starring Frank Vincent, in the role of a former cop, gets involved
in what originally he had intended to only be a skimming oepration
to cobble up a nest egg for his daughter and son in law. This
shortly after gets magnified by a factor of 1,000 as the bad guys
exert pressure on him to take the action to a higher level, and out
of proportion, which he is reluctant to do although aware that
refusing could have fatal consequences, while going along with it
makes the risks of being caught higher.

With an unusual human warmth of 2 unknowns in the business - Gian
DiDonna and Gloria Darpino, as well as Brian McCormack playing the
"Machevellian Dirty Cop", with a demeanor reminiscent of Harvey
Keitel in some ways, the DVD only has 2 biographies in the extras,
one for Frank Vincent, and the other for Vincent Pastore, who is a
staple in these crime / underworld dramas.

There's a generous mixture of private and business lives told of the
characters, succeeding in involving the viewers, making the outcome
matter, entertaining them. The action carries viewers into the
story, with a very real, appropriate, natural dialog, very well
articulated by the actors.

A number of aspects of policing is demonstrated: the former cops who
ran into trouble in the past (alcohol, etc.); the present cops, some
of which only maintain themselves at the expense of illegal behavior
from the threats they utter and through collaboration they have
with individuals in the underworld to cover their tracks /
mistakes, playing both sides on the checkerboard (so to speak).
Finally, there'sthe regular folks: wives, husbands, police chiefs,
friends who have no hidden agenda, just a basic, simple conduct.

Vincent Frank is cool, calm, collected, yet able to transmit drama
and play the part of veteran who's been around the block a few
times.

Some brutality, of course, is shown (stabbing, shootings,
strangling, fighting), as well as some language excesses (namely, by
Pastore's character.)

A necessary love scene is shown, to add some depth to one of the
central characters, who abhors her husband, when he's psyching out
as a disbalanced, cop on the edge, running to a former lover.

The filming is high quality, clear, ( although not widescreen ) and
is fine as a DVD rental above all, for sure superior to a TV movie.

The plot is timeless, as hasn't aged since the release date.

West New York is horrible ( i should know i lived there for 29 yrs, & recently got the hec out!) just like this low-budget movie! How in the hell can you have Frank Vincent & Vincent Pastore in a lemon like this? FUGGEDABOUDIT! PURE 100% bad acting! The trading in bonds for loot plot was CHEESEY! Most of all,,,i felt like throwing a shoe at the screen when you see how Colleti (F. Vincent)gets shot.....I am glad i only paid a dollar for this...The funny thing is,,,the garbage bag i am putting this DVD in,,,costs more,,,,,go figure..........