You’ve seen this movie before. It’s about three boyhood friends living in Brooklyn who must eventually grow up and go their separate ways. Their story is narrated by Michael (Prinze, slightly less bland than usual), who strives to escape the crime-infested streets through higher education. As the aspiring thug Carmine, Caan is more than a little reminiscent of his dad in The Godfather. Then there is the sweet-natured Bobby (Jerry Ferrara), who just wants to live a normal life.
They spend their nights cruising and partying and chasing girls, until the problems of adult life interfere. It’s the mid-’80s, and the influence of some guy named John Gotti is being felt throughout the city. The three guys and their disparate personalities respond in different ways, causing friction and what the filmmakers hope will be drama.
These are all one-note characters in a one-dimensional story, but as written by Sopranos veteran Terence Winter and performed earnestly by the leads, it still manages to be personal and sincere. We actually feel the bond between these friends and fear when it is endangered by outside forces. Like the characters that inhabit it, the movie keeps threatening to take that next step, before too many criminal clichés snap it back into place.
Attention to detail provides some recognizable sets, props and costumes, complete with Culture Club and Dire Straits on the soundtrack. Further elevating the production is Alec Baldwin, whose supporting turn as the seething crime boss Caesar towers above everybody else, in both acting and character. On the flip side is Michael’s love interest, Ellen, played by Mena Suvari, who is still trying vainly to escape being typecast as a seductive cheerleader.
Watching this film we are reminded of Mean Streets and Goodfellas, and why Scorsese and De Niro are such unique talents. Brooklyn Rules treads similar ground, and tries to infuse it with its own personality. We invest in the fates of its characters, but have a pretty good idea how things will work out, because we’ve seen it before, in better movies.