Jack Nicholson plays somewhat against type here, in that he is thicker and much more reined in than his normal efforts. He is playing Charlie Partanna, a Mafia gangster who is suddenly unsure of himself, removed from the comfort of his usual routine of murder and blindly following out family orders. Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) is the cause of this confusion, when he spots her from afar at a wedding and falls in love. Bizarrely, considering how weirdly he plays the seduction, she reciprocates, and a strange relationship rather devoid of onscreen chemistry plays out. The lack of chemistry may be something to do with the fact Nicholson was actually dating his co-star Anjelica Huston, whose father was directing them all. Therefore, romping naked with Turner may have caused a few tensions on set. Actually, that’s probably completely untrue, at least as far as man’s man John Huston was concerned, but I’m sure it would have been interesting to be backstage sometimes!
Anjelica Huston actually got a supporting actress oscar for her turn here, which astounds me, as she is hardly in the film, and largely average, but maybe that’s just me. There’s some good supporting work, if slightly hammy, from some of the other gangsters in the film, including a fun turn from William Hickey as the anaemic Don, who appears to be on his last legs, but you suspect may seem them all buried before he finally kicks the bucket. The plot is quite fun, with twists and turns, as we follow Charlie try and make head or tail of his upturned world. He needs to work out who he can trust, and as hits are made fairly regularly throughout the film, he needs to be pretty confident that he has made the right choices. Irene is “Polack”, and therefore entirely untrusted by the Mafia, who want Charlie to have nothing to do with her, and so he is forced to choose between his love for Irene and his love for, and duty to, his family.
The film’s flawed – it doesn’t know fully what it intends to be. It’s not funny enough to be a black comedy and it’s not serious enough to be a compelling drama. For all that, the story is worth a watch. It’s no classic, but it’s decent. It got nominated for eight oscars, which is WAY too many for what is essentially an average to quite good film. I can only think the personnel involved caused quite a bit of backslapping in the voting. If you enjoy watching gangster films, or black comedies, or the stars involved, this is worth sticking on if you see it, but it doesn’t add up to the promise, considering all the talent on show.
Biffer on Film 