Kill the Irishman is a so-so movie, but I'd still recommend it. It helps that this movie isn't trying too hard to be Goodfellas-lite, it even comes off that writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh said, "well we can't remake Goodfellas, so let me draw some inspiration from it and then do my own thing." Don't get me wrong, the critic in me wants to be a little upset that such powerful material wasn't made into an "A" film, but because of its escapist nature and the amount of fun you'll have watching it, it doesn't really matter if this is a "B" movie (after all, escapism and fun are what makes B-movies so beloved). I should add that I'm the kind of viewer who can also shrug off clearly choreographed themes and symbolism. I look at is a failed effort to dance around the literal, I don't get angry at filmmakers trying to at least have made an effort.
My other thoughts on the film are pretty short...
1. I don't want to delve too much into the premise because a lot of story will have you going "did that really happen?" and aside from some of that hokey religious symbolism stuff I just mentioned, the answer will usually be "yes." So yeah, avoid Wikipedia and Google searches.
2. Kudos to the casting director for the largest amount of character actors I've ever seen assembled- Linda Cardellini, Tony Darrow, Robert Davi, Vincent D'Onofrio, Fionnula Flanagan, Bob Gunton, Jason Butler Harner, Vinnie Jones, Val Kilmer, Tony Lo Bianco, Laura Ramsey, Steven R. Schirripa, Paul Sorvino, Mike Starr, Marcus Thomas, and it wouldn't be complete without Christopher Walken.
3. My final note, thank you god for giving Ray Stevenson his first piece of juicy legitimate acting since Rome. The guy is massively talented.
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