MONUMENT AVE. A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
The bathroom, that's where most of the guys who live in the neighborhood hang out.
At least they always claim to have been "in the head" when murders occur, as they frequently do in Charlestown, a bleak Irish-American ghetto in Boston. As the streetwise Detective Hanolon, Martin Sheen explains the rules to the new kid on the block, a recent Irish immigrant named Seamus (Jason Barry). Hanolon tells Seamus that every man in bar that day will have been relieving himself when a snitch named Teddy (Billy Crudup) was gun-downed in cold blood. Sure enough, to a man, they all swear during their brief interrogations to have been in the restroom at the time of the crime.
As directed by Ted Demme and written by Mike Armstrong, MONUMENT AVE. concentrates on the texture and the hopelessness of the community that the people feel stuck in. Although there are no guards at the border, it is clear that the locals are trapped. Having been together since childhood, the guys are bound to their life of snorting cocaine, drinking booze, stealing cars and gambling away the money they don't spend on drugs. Using jump cuts and fast-talking dialog, the movie imparts an immediacy that allows the movie to transcend the lack substantial narrative drive. Filmed by Adam Kimmel in a dull blue gray and with dilapidated location sets by Ruth Ammon, the visuals convey hopelessness and poignancy.
One of the film's major pitfalls is that the director allows the actors to get sloppy, causing much of the dialog to be lost to low mumbling. And the actors' Irish accents wax and wane like the moon. Sometimes they are thick and convincing, and other times they mysteriously vanish.
A remarkably controlled Denis Leary plays the lead character Bobby O'Grady in an ensemble cast. The few times that Bobby loses control of the situation are all the more impressive because the usually explosive Leary keeps his emotions in check throughout most of the picture.
Bobby is so much a part of the neighborhood culture that he struggles to answer the hardest question of the movie. An attractive yuppie named Annie, played in a cameo by Jeanne Tripplehorn, has happened into his bar. When he hits on her, to the great consternation of Bobby's girlfriend (Famke Janssen), Annie asks him what he does. Stammering nervously, he replies that he works on antique cars. Actually he steals cars, mainly newer ones, to support his habit, but honesty is rarely the best policy in such circumstances.
The movie works best in its small moments, which the director gets just right. One scene has the guys arguing over the relative merits of the movies of their generation. All are in agreement on THE BREAKFAST CLUB, but ST. ELMO'S FIRE is more controversial. In another scene, Bobby's girlfriend comes in drunk and sexually aroused. His reaction isn't to take advantage of the situation, but, instead, to cuddle with her and let her fall asleep in his arms as he covers her gently with a blanket.
Colm Meaney plays Jackie O'Hara, the local crime boss. Like the old mill towns, in which the mills owned the stores as well as the only place of employment, Jackie employs many of the locals and is also the neighborhood bookie. This means that he gives money only to take even more back, leaving Bobby and his friends constantly beholding to him. Since they have few ways at getting back at him or their surroundings, a street hockey game with Jackie and his other hoods provide one of the few harmless outlets for their aggression.
Typical of their unlucky life, the film's title comes from a botched job shown in flashback. Mouse Murphy (Ian Hart) had gone to rob an apartment on Monument Ave., when a comfortable waterbed lulled him into a sound sleep. Interrupted by the surprised owner, the only thing Mouse managed to take was a nap.
Like members trapped in a religious cult, Charlestown's inhabitants have no idea that leaving is even an option. The tragedy of their situation isn't what happens, but what doesn't or, at least in their view, what can't.
MONUMENT AVE. runs 1:33. It is not rated but would be an R for violence, profanity, and pervasive hard drug usage and would be acceptable for teenagers only if they are older and mature.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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