Little Odessa

source: Little Odessa

In "Little Odessa" (So dubbed after the Russian enclave of the same name in Brooklyn), Roth plays a hit man who returns to the neighborhood of his youth only to find that family matters are not as easily settled as contract killings. The film is an excellent debut for writer/director Gray and, IMHO, much better than his follow-up work "The Yards". "Little Odessa" may be short on story with an obvious absence of the tinselization which comes with big bucks, but it is also honest, unpretentious, and sports an excellent cast. Will play best with reality freaks into crime dramas. (B-)

I enjoyed the movie. Tim Roth, who is apparently British, sounded to me (a Texan) as a perfect second-generation Russian Jew. He was so coldly efficient in this character that I did not even recognize him as the hapless robber in Pulp Fiction. Kudos also to Moira Kelly, Edward Furlong, and Maximilian Schell. Good direction and photography. The use of the Russian choral music throughout set the mood on medium-creepy, even when that was the only clue. I've never been to Brighton Beach, or even Brooklyn, but the film really brought home the gritty reality of that immigrant community. (I really just mean the day-to-day atmosphere of the place, not the mobster story plastered on it.) Worth checking out if you don't mind a slower, more cerebral sort of hit man movie.

I saw this last night, and on the box somewhere it made reference to being a "Goodfellas" 'ish type of movie...or something along those lines. I cant lie, that was the hook for me being as I love Scorsese gangster movies. This is an EXCELLENT film, amazing in some parts just by the acting alone. Tim Roth...does more with a stare then most can do with words. He was perfect. And after seeing this I really wish I knew of more movies if he's done them were he plays a role similar to this (other then the obvious 'Reservoir Dogs'). Edward Furlong whom I usually don't much care for even pulls off a very believable character. I wont go into detail, or outline some sort of plot. Just go rent this movie if your a fan of the gangster type movies...sorry, GOOD gangster type movies. It is an impressive display of movies not needing excessive violence, but instead great acting to build suspense, or thrills. 9/10

The movie is a realistic story about immigrants in the US. The shots are very good done. You really feel the atmosphere of the Brooklyn area. The very tight feeling when you live here. The problems the people feel and the relationships between different individuals. The old against the young. The Italians against the Russians and so on. I think this movie really get the important points of the life in a multiethnical city.

Director and writer James Gray has created a gem in Little Odessa. Starring Tim Roth who has also been in other classic flicks, The Musketeer 2001, Gridlock'd 1997, No Way Home 1996, Pulp Fiction 1994, Reservoir Dogs 1992, The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover 1989, Meantime 1984 and Made in Britain 1982. Also starring Edward Furlong who has also been in other classic flicks, American History X 1998 and Terminator 2: Judgement Day 1991. Also starring Moira Kelly. Also starring Vanessa Redgrave who has also been in another classic flick, The Devils 1971. Also starring Maximillian Schell who has also been in other classic flicks, Vampires 1998 and Cross of Iron 1977. I enjoyed the violence. If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic Russian crime flicks, The Mechanik 2005, Mute Witness 1994, Command Performance 2009, Running Scared 2006 and Driven to Kill 2009.

It's the camera-work which first impresses in this one. The shots are so well taken. Roth is excellent, bordering on superb, and should win the Hugh Laurie Award for the best job done portraying (and sounding convincingly like) a 'north a-merican' by a Brit. Are talents like Schell and Redgrave wasted? Hardly. More: their Russian is very good - something you wouldn't expect from a flick like this. Sometimes the language is almost overly simplistic but the accents are very good. This is a taut thriller - a scary one - and there are scenes which may have you gasping because they're so stark. As in 'Casino was a Bugs Bunny movie'. Something like that. Is this good? That's another matter. A lot of this is lent by Roth's performance - he's a cold blooded killer and he plays it with more the poker face than Hopkins in Remains of the Day. Denouement? Watch for it. When the movie's over you might miss the fact it's over. Is this a highly recommendable flick? Hard to say. Some excellent work here. But will you enjoy it? Benefit by it? That's a much more difficult question. PS. Hey IMDb! Stop correcting our spelling and giving us no chance to correct your incorrect corrections. Suggesting corrections is one thing; forcing them upon us is quite another.

Writer/director James Gray's (We Own the Night) first film was critically acclaimed for it's cinematography and for performances by Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell. It is not an action film, even though the main character is a hit-man. It is a drama about family and shame. Mr. Orange, Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Incredible Hulk) plays a son who has been disowned for bringing shame on the family by his behavior. He returns to Brighton Beach to do a job, and reunites with his family as his mother lays dying. He also reunited with Moira Kelly, much to the delight of movie viewers. About the only one happy to see him was his younger brother Rueban, played by Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Pecker). Well, mom was happy, but moms are always happy no matter how bad their children are - trust me on that. Violence was at a minimum for a Russian Mafia/hit-man picture, and the focus was on the family. Maximilian Schell was excellent as the father that made piece just for a moment to allow Redgrave to see her son. Gray's first film has nuance and subtlety not often seen in a film featuring the mafia.

This is a great film, and considering this is a debut for the director, it's even more impressive. And the guy was only 24! What will strike you about this film is the economy of footage and the directorial vision. Gray knows exactly what shots are needed and how long to use them, there is none of this showy, slappy editing or gratuitous shots. Each scene is composed and skillful. You really get the sense that he had every shot meticulously choreographed and planned out before showing up on the set, and further, that this planning was dead-on in its strengthening of the mood and tone of the picture. To illustrate this, there is one scene where Tim Roth shoots someone in broad daylight. Gray handles this scene so that it is jarring without accessorizing or glamorizing the violence. It is quick and sudden. Any number of directors would have shot the hell out of this scene and used a million angles and would have had no idea of how to play the scene in context. And this is a minor scene, a simple scene. The entire film is completely well-thought out and uses this same masterful direction. Gray also knows how to use a camera and where to put them. This film is visually stimulating without going overboard, like the difference between Jimmy Page and Steve Vai: virtuosity and skill does not have to equal genius, god knows what Guy Ritchie would have done to this film, but it sure would've been unwatchable. A director, like any artist, must know how much to include and when to stop, and Gray gets this right. If you have ever liked Ed Furlong or Tim Roth, you will love them in this. They are both allowed room to really deliver emotional, realistic, and moving performances. How do they do this when they've been good and bad in other films? That's right: they were directed properly. Both actors were right for their parts but they were also kept to a very real tone, something that separates a director like Gray from one like Joanou or whoever "directed" that thing Boondock Saints (both films could possibly be described as in the same genre as this one). In summary, this is an amazing debut film with solid performances and gripping story.

Visually arresting in many of its scenes, the narrative suffers badly from a lack of originality and from characters whose motivations are fuzzy at best. Joshua has had the same type of stable middle-class upbringing as his younger brother, yet he becomes a remorseless killer. Why? Reuben, the younger brother, seems to have sound values; he knows his brother for what he is, yet demonstrates a degree of loyalty far beyond what one would expect. Why? Alla appears reasonably intelligent and not altogether emotionally starved, but is drawn to Joshua. Why? The final irony in which Reuben and Alla die on Joshua's account will be familiar to even occasional filmgoers. If the character of the father is to be cited as a source of the sons' alienation, it is altogether human to be frustrated (and therefore quick-tempered) when your best efforts have so little to show for them. The man has been worn down by life, yet he cares for his elderly mother and terminally ill wife with as much tender love as he can muster. An adulterer? With his wife dying slowly of a brain tumor, perhaps he deserves a kinder appellation. The family is Jewish, although that appears to be of no real significance in regard to the characters, plot or atmosphere. Likewise the story being set in Brooklyn. Striking visuals can do only so much for a film. More attention to the narrative would have been helpful.