The Pope of Greenwich Village

The Pope of Greenwich Village-360P

The Pope of Greenwich Village-720P

The Pope of Greenwich Village-480P

Mickey Rourke is "The Pope of Greenwich Village" in this 1984 film also starring Eric Roberts, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan, Darryl Hannah and Burt Young. Rourke is Charlie, who, with his cousin Paulie, rob a mobster with the help of a safecracker (McMillan). Both Rourke and Roberts are in fine form against the New York background. Everything about this film is seedy. The detectives all look out of shape and overtired, everybody has smoker's skin or a drinker's red nose. As Charlie, Rourke wants a big score so he can buy a restaurant, but his fatal flaw is listening to his idiotic cousin Paulie, a total loser and a weakling, who gets him involved in the robbery of a vicious mobster where a cop is killed at the scene. The attractive Rourke uses his sweet smile to good advantage and underplays; it's a shame he underwent such severe plastic surgery and took his career off track. Roberts plays Paulie as completely pathetic, so pathetic that at times, he's funny, even when his circumstances aren't. The mob movies were in their heyday when "The Pope of Greenwich Village" was made, so it probably got lost in the shuffle. It's not a big film, but the acting and locations are impressive. Look for Geraldine Page in a small but showy role as the dead cop's mother, a woman who can handle the police better than anyone.

The Pope of Greenwich Village_720p(480P)

Excellent movie in my opinion. Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke and Darryl Hannah all at their prime. Eric played "Paulie" quite well, even the Italian accent was fine. Not every Italian has the perfect accent. He was hilarious in many scenes such as "cop s*** his pants!!!!", and Chawlie "dey took my thumb Chawlie". Mickey plays a stubborn Italian looking for success the easy way and would rather be successful at that than start a family with Hannah. I am surprised this movie does not get more recognition. My best line in the movie was when Paulie and Charlie were at the bar and Paulie toasted Charlie "SALUTZZZZ CHALUTZZZZ".

THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE (1984) *** Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan, Jack Kehoe. Rourke and Roberts are a fine combination of cousin f*** ups in Little Italy managing to look sharp and cool despite no prospects of a real life except a quick score by robbing the safe of a local mafia thug that gets botched real good. Page scored a Best Supporting Actress nod as the mother of a deceased cop but Roberts is most memorable as Paulie ("Dey took my thumb, Chaaalieeee"). Sinatra's "Summer Wind" is a perfect choice as the film's unofficial theme.

In fact, it wasn't very good. Eric Roberts is completely unbelievable as a New Yorker or an Italian. The swarmy Rourke was poor choice as well. Bad casting or the big roles - Roberts, Rourke and Hannah, cut the legs out from under the film.

The Pope Of Greenwich Village is a film that absolutely I can't decide about. I love it for some of the acting, especially Eric Roberts as this hopelessly stupid schemer. But I'm not sure if the makers of this film intended it to be a comedy or a serious drama. It really falls somewhere in between and doesn't come up for air. I also cannot believe Mickey Rourke's character. He seems intelligent enough, but how he can get involved with this cousin who is not only beyond stupid, but a liar and a con artist to boot? This latest scheme that Roberts has is a real beauty. He's going to steal some money out of an easy to crack safe and bet it on a horse that he has a really good tip on. That's bad enough, but of course he doesn't tell his partners Kenneth McMillan and Rourke that not only does the money belong to the local Mafia head Burt Young. And it's to be used as police payoff money. So we've got crooks and crooked cops looking for the perpetrators. The main reason to see The Pope Of Greenwich Village is Roberts. Because you cannot believe how anyone can lie and cheat and doublecross people and have lived as far as he has. Geraldine Page as the mother of a cop killed accidentally (yes accidentally) during the robbery got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but the film such as it is belongs to Eric Roberts. The film does have some nice location cinematography in Greenwich Village and Little Italy. This is not the Bohemian Village nor is it the Gay Mecca that it is now known for. This is the Greenwich Village that elected Carmine DiSapio, the last great boss of Tammany Hall as its Democratic leader. Little Italy has shrunk considerably, but it's still there. But after you watch it, mesmerized as you are by Roberts, you'll be scratching your head wondering just exactly what did you see?

Charlie (Mickey Rourke) is a slick restaurant manager who dreams of owning his own restaurant. His petty criminal cousin Paulie (Eric Roberts) is a waiter. The owner discovers Paulie stealing and fires both of them. Paulie has a scheme to break into a safe. He brings in locksmith Barney and a reluctant Charlie. A cop is killed in the heist. They steal $150k. Charlie is besides himself that Paulie kept the fact that the money belongs to mob boss Bed Bug Eddie (Burt Young) from him. Charlie's girlfriend (Daryl Hannah) tells him that she's pregnant. Wow! What a performance! The DVD comes with supposed praises like "Explosively funny." (LA Times) and "high-voltage movie that produces tears of laughter" (NY Daily News). The problem is that the movie doesn't come with jokes. The unintentional hilarity all comes from the ridiculous over-the-top Eric Roberts performance. It is an incredible thing to behold and crazier than Al Pacino's Scarface. It almost comes off as a spoof of a gangster movie. One should see this to believe it. I almost didn't believe it.