Entertainment Ave! The Movie Theater - A movie review of Deuces Wild.

Deuces Wild Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, Fairuza Balk, Norman Reedus, Frankie Muniz, Vincent Pastore, Deborah Harry, Drea DeMatteo, Johnny Knoxville
MPAA Rated:	R
Released By:	MGM
Web Site:	www.mgm.com/deuceswild/
Kiddie Movie:	Please leave them at home.
Date Movie:	Leave her at home.
Gratuitous Sex:	Some bra action and dry humping.
Gratuitous Violence:	Lots of it.
Action:	Not really action.
Laughs:	The way things are so overblown.
Memorable Scene:	The ending was good.
Memorable Quote:	None.
Directed By:	Scott Kalvert
Produced By:	Willi Baer, Fred Caruso, Paul Kimatian

Here’s the basic story: It’s the 50’s when street gangs ruled Brooklyn. When his brother died of a heroine overdose, Leon (Stephen Dorf) vowed that junk would never be sold on his street, so he formed the Deuces, a gang to protect their turf. Along with his other brother, Bobby (Brad Renfro), the Deuces have things pretty secure, up until the boys dump some cinder blocks on the car of a rival. Fritzy (Matt Dillon), he’s supposed to be the mob guy who really runs the neighborhood, isn’t happy about the cinder blocks and gives Leon a verbal scolding, warning him to let things be.

In the meantime, Marco (Norman Reedus) is getting ready to be let out of jail. Why do we care about Marco? In actuality, I didn’t, but he was the dude who sold Leon’s brother the junk and got sent to the slammer for three years, supposedly tipped to the cops by Leon. Marco wants Leon dead, but Fritzy tells him to play nice, just set up his heroin operation, and everything will be okay.

Well, if Fritzy really was a mob guy you’d think Marco would listen to him. Nope. Marco goes on his own spree, terrorizing the neighborhood with his gang, and doing everything he can to get Leon’s goat so Leon will fight him and Marco can get his revenge.

And, oh yea, there’s a love story with Bobby and Annie (Fairuza Balk), the sister of one of the guys who sold the brother the heroine that killed him. Leon thinks Bobby shouldn’t see her, that she’s the enemy, and yea, you get that whole Romeo and Juliet crap.

Blah, blah, blah… The gangs fight, people die, and no one really lives happily ever after.

So what didn’t I like about "Deuces Wild?" For one it seemed like everyone just got out of the James T. Kirk School of Overacting. Sure, there was an attitude the street gangs had back then, but in the movie the stereotypes were so over-blown that it actually became a nuisance. Now I didn’t have a problem with the underlying story of Marco seeking revenge on Leon, but don’t make things so obvious as Leon’s girl, Betsy (Drea de Matteo), storming out of Leon’s apartment, saying she doesn’t need him to walk her home, and then Marco going after her. But what was the worst thing for me was the Fritzy character. I had no belief that this dude actually had any control over the neighborhood. Leon didn’t listen to him, neither did Marco, and in all honesty, as much as the rest of the cast sort of fit their overblown roles, Matt Dillon didn’t even make it close to being a mob boss.

In the end it’s 1 ½ star out of 5 for "Deuces Wild." Street gangs fought, that’s what they did. We didn’t need a bad movie to tell us that. Wait for cable to watch this one. Then again, check the channel listings to make sure something better isn’t on.