CITY OF INDUSTRY
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
A favorite storyline for movies is the one about a criminal who wants to go straight . . . but only after one more heist that will fix him financially for life. Most recently there was ABSOLUTE POWER. Fortunately for CITY OF INDUSTRY, it is a bit more believable. It also has a powerful performance by veteran Harvey Keitel as "Roy," the elder brother of "Lee," (Timothy Hutton.) The two help elevate what would be pretty much an ordinary story and bring it up a notch or two.
Lee, as criminals are rated, is small potatoes, never having struck it big in his chosen profession. He wants to go straight, start life anew. But first he needs the one big one that can set him on "Easy Street" for life. For this he plots a Palm Springs jewelry store robbery as his way out of crime and into "normal" life.
Lee induces his brother, Roy, who has been more successful in his criminal life and has escaped into the unknown Midwest, to go along with Roy on this last adventure. Against his better judgment, he agrees. (I have seen enough movies to know he should have just said "No.") In addition to the two brothers, they need a good getaway driver and they find him in Skip Kovich (Stephen Dorff). Anyone else would have noticed that Skip is touchy, spontaneous and not exactly reliable but Lee never notices that; all he knows is he is a great driver and Roy goes along with the choice even if he is not happy with it.. Rounding out the crew is Jorge Montana (Wade Dominguez) who is recently out of jail and could easily be back in if he is caught violating his probation. Jorge has a wife and children who worry about him . . . with good reason.
Hardly does the film get rolling when brother Lee is killed. That caught me by surprise because stars such as Hutton are not usually disposed of so early in a film. However, that is the motivation for brother Roy to seek out the someone who betrayed them . . . and Roy wants revenge. Hence this exciting film-noir.
Directed by John Irvin.
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Ben Hoffman
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