Brooklyn Rules is a watchable flick but it's also tired and derivative, which is a shame given the talent involved.
Comment
06/22/07
Brooklyn Rules (2007)
47
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:18
Rotten:20
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Brooklyn Rules’ premise is old hat now, but strong performances from Alec Baldwin and the supporting cast are reasons enough to watch.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Written by three-time Emmy winner Terence Winter (The Sopranos), Brooklyn Rules is a powerful story of loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice. Set in Brooklyn circa 1985 against the backdrop of John... [More]
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze, Scott Caan, Jerry Ferrara
Director: Michael Corrente
Reviews for Brooklyn Rules
Singularly unoriginal, full of clichés and tough-neighborhood set pieces tied together with GoodFellas-style voice-over narration.
07/12/07
If we were playing by mob rules, this movie would get the 'slicer' treatment for trying to impersonate a Scorsese picture.
08/03/07
Ah, the nostalgic mob drama. No matter the brutality, the blood, or the sheer fear that shape the memory, movies and TV tend to make life in the mob a growth experience.
05/30/07
The mix of autobiographical texture and authentic mobster minutiae puts it over and then some.
05/14/07
Against all odds, it remains surprisingly watchable.
07/13/07
How many sophomoric insults can three Brooklyn teens hurl in five minutes? About 894.
05/17/07
The friends, the neighborhood, the loyalty, the bloodshed, Alec Baldwin playing a bad-ass wise guy... feel free to stop me when all this stops sounding familiar.
05/18/07
It all remains as charming and likable as the mutt that Bobby adopts, and the genuine New York locations sure beat Toronto.
05/21/07
Though there's little original about Brooklyn Rules, it's an engaging tale of lifelong friends navigating the 'hood, dodging crime, and finding their places in the real world.
05/18/07
A surprisingly strong feature about lifelong buddies, one taking the high road to college and law school while two others are drawn into the life of wiseguys.
03/27/07
Should you see this '80s mafia drama? Fugeddaboudit.
08/22/08
Though the three friends at the center of the story don't always look or sound smart, the movie does both.
05/18/07
If Winter had an extraordinary youth, it eludes Brooklyn Rules, another generic memory piece in which the now-successful writer takes us on a thinly veiled tour of the burger joints, bowling alleys and faces from his formative grunge years.
05/17/07
A sometimes funny, occasionally maudlin coming-of-age dramedy that wants to be Goodfellas but might have been called Mild in the Streets.
09/22/07
Top CriticA thoughtfully satisfying form of non-mob drama is in store for the more serious filmgoer with the exclusion of Scorsese-like episodes of butchery.
04/18/07
Absolutely nothing to recommend the film as anything other than a sagging collection of predictable clichés and brain-numbing boredom.
08/01/07
Whether it's read as an exclamation of borough pride or as a set of unwritten laws governing its residents, the movie takes a well-trodden path in chronicling the lives of three Italian American friends, circa 1985.
09/20/07
Top CriticPrinze Jr., Caan and Ferrara forge such believable bonds of friendship that even though the film they're in is pure derivation, it becomes enjoyable to watch.
05/17/07
Once you get beyond the surface clichés, there's truth and sincerity in the dialogue and performances.
05/18/07
Latest News for Brooklyn Rules
May 17, 2007:
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America is going green this week: "Shrek the Third" (featuring the voices of Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas) is our single new wide release. Critics... More...
April 26, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
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