STATE OF GRACE
A film review by Jon Cohen
Copyright 1991 Jon Cohen
Late last year, three gangster movies involving some of the world's best actors and directors were released at the same time: GOODFELLAS, MILLER'S CROSSING and STATE OF GRACE.
STATE OF GRACE may have received the least attention of the three--at least, it was the one I did not catch in the theatres (I did enjoy GOODFELLAS and MILLER'S CROSSING a lot and generally enjoy movies about the psychology of criminals and the workings of organized crime).
So I recently caught STATE OF GRACE on video and--although I don't think it is as good as the other two films mentioned above--I thought it offered some great moments--and a great performance by Gary Oldman.
I don't know much about Gary Oldman. He's British. I saw him recently in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, where he gives another great performance, and also in PRICK UP YOUR EARS. Does anyone know more about his film credits and background?. He seems to have had some training as a classical actor, as he jumps around with grace and abandon and seems to know fencing.
In STATE OF GRACE he broke my heart with his performance as a slightly out of control, hyper-active, messy, violent, and alcoholic gangster who visibly aches for love and something worth fighting for. This is the sort of character that Eric Roberts plays so well--the kid who could not sit still in class and whose life has gone straight down hill since the third grade. It's a memorable and manic performance-- and next to seeing Annette Bening naked in THE GRIFTERS--one of the highlights of my movie year.
I think Oldman outshines Sean Penn in STATE OF GRACE--one of Penn's more low-key performances. Penn can still communicate more with his face and body language than most screen actors can do with a hundred great lines. But Oldman has the better part in this extremely violent movie about Irish gangsters being swept away by changing times in lower Manhattan. Penn seems a little tired and depressed in this film--and he shows some influence of Robert DeNiro, who he seems to be imitating in the way he reads certain lines.
I also wasn't thrilled by the violence in STATE OF GRACE. It seemed gratuitous to me--lots of showy, bloody, slow-motion shoot-outs with bags of fake blood exploding all over the place. This sort of cinema ultra-violence went out with Butch Cassidy and Bonnie and Clyde--at least I thought so.
Another problem with the movie--the script focused on an ethnic subculture and old way of life under attack, but none of the lead characters seemed very ethnic to me. Ed "The Abyss" Harris gives a good performance as a ruthless SOB, but there's nothing very Irish about him. The same goes for the lovely Robin Wright, the princess of THE PRINCESS BRIDE, who shows she is not just a beautiful ex-model but a promising and interesting actress in her role as the younger sister of gangsters, trying to live a decent life and distance herself from her shameful family and past.
Also, Burgess Meredith hams it up as an old sot--a character a lot like the one he plays in the Rocky movies. Is Burgess Meredith alive or dead? Seriously, I thought he died. If so, this must have been one of his last roles.
Funny, I recently saw THE FIELD, where the characters were definitely Irish, but which suffered from an overwrought and silly script. The script for STATE OF GRACE by Dennis McIntyre was very good, I thought, but needed some real Irish people to bring it to life. And less contrived, special-effects violence to distract us from the human tragedy. Where was Mickey Rourke when we needed him?
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