Too many clichés and not enough energy have come along for the ride.
Brooklyn Rules (2007)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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... 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 Gotti's rise to power, the film revolves around three lifelong friends whose different ambitions threaten to shake their enduring bond. Michael (FREDDIE PRINZE JR.), the narrator, is a lovable charmer with the soul of a con man who successfully scams his way into the pre-law program at Columbia University. In contrast to Michael's desire to leave the Brooklyn streets behind, his close friend Carmine (SCOTT CAAN), a handsome lady-killer enamored by the Mafia lifestyle, wants nothing more than to stay there. Rounding out the trio is Bobby (Entourage's JERRY FERRARA), an endearing cheapskate who longs for a simple life of working at the Post Office and settling down with his fiancée. While at Columbia, Michael falls for a beautiful young student named Ellen (MENA SUVARI), a society girl whom he initially wins over with his preppy schoolboy cover. As their relationship blossoms, leaving the streets behind seems increasingly possible, but when Carmine catches the eye of Caesar (ALEC BALDWIN), a feared mobster who controls their Brooklyn neighborhood, Michael and Bobby are drawn into that world despite their reluctance to get involved. Brooklyn Rules comes down to the choices faced by three young men when the right path is not always the easiest to follow, and when being a loyal friend can mean making the ultimate sacrifice. --© City Lights Pictures [More]
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze, Scott Caan, Jerry Ferrara
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Freddie Prinze, Scott Caan, Jerry Ferrara, Mena Suvari, Daniel Tay, Ty Reed, Paulo Araujo
Director: Michael Corrente
Director: Michael Corrente
Screenwriter: Terence Winter
Producer: Michael Corrente, Richard B. Lewis, Marisa Polvino
Composer: Benny Rietveld
Studio: City Lights Pictures
Reviews for Brooklyn Rules
Director Michael Corrente’s borough-specific details and Sopranos writer Terence Winter’s well-drawn characters alchemize oft-used ingredients into a satisfying meal.
A thoughtfully satisfying form of non-mob drama is in store for the more serious filmgoer with the exclusion of Scorsese-like episodes of butchery.
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.
...Winter's coming-of-age-in-the-1980s saga is content to rewalk the same mean streets, never ducking into one alley or back room we haven't visited.
Years after Federal Hill (1994), director Michael Corrente is still doing low-budget Mean Streets knockoffs.
It all remains as charming and likable as the mutt that Bobby adopts, and the genuine New York locations sure beat Toronto.
How many sophomoric insults can three Brooklyn teens hurl in five minutes? About 894.
Brooklyn Rules is a watchable flick but it's also tired and derivative, which is a shame given the talent involved.
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.
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.
a fuzzy film sporting more bad Brooklyn accents and mob-movie cliches than Knockaround Guys which, all things considered, is hard to do.
Although yet another set-in-the-80's coming of age film, it's a familiar but affecting story.
Singularly unoriginal, full of clichés and tough-neighborhood set pieces tied together with GoodFellas-style voice-over narration.
Absolutely nothing to recommend the film as anything other than a sagging collection of predictable clichés and brain-numbing boredom.
This is an enjoyable, well-written, finely acted and strongly directed movie.
Though the three friends at the center of the story don't always look or sound smart, the movie does both.
The mix of autobiographical texture and authentic mobster minutiae puts it over and then some.
Vivid work by Alec Baldwin as a brutal Gambino crime family captain isn't enough to justify the sub-Scorsese stylings of Michael Corrente's Brooklyn Rules.
However authentic and heartfelt this film’s depiction of life on the meaner streets of the Northeast corridor may be, it doesn’t begin to match The Sopranos' epic vision of violence, class struggle and upward mobility in a barbarous culture.
Latest News for Brooklyn Rules
May 17, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Third Time's Not the Charm for "Shrek"
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 ![]()
More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Brooklyn Rules at Rotten Tomatoes
- Brooklyn Rules at IGN
- Brooklyn Rules at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

