Rating: 4/5
Lawyer Joe Morse convinces his mobster boss, Tucker, to get in on a scheme to cook the number racket and bleed the banks dry. Joe also tries to pull in his older brother Leo, who is running one of the smaller banks but wants no more attention on him than he needs<blockquote>Black sheep like to make everybody else look black</blockquote> Still, Joe manages to pull him in. But no sooner than he begins, the police are on every trail, and Tucker smells a rat in the organization. In the end, Joe has to decide what he values more: the money or his family
Noir is where the shady people talk quietly and calmly, and the honest folk yell and don’t get heard. The script is like an undergrad is translating a film noir — the banter is there, but it’s obtuse and overbearing
Joe Morse never says a word that doesn’t intend manipulation — Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street follows a similar MO
The best scene is the shootout in the office — lighting, pace, and cinematography come together in an expertly-paced scene
At a tight 80 minutes, this film doesn’t make great use of its time, but it still manages to pull off some pretty great filmmaking in the process