It has been three years since young Sean killed some local hoods to prevent them killing his older brother Francis. At the time it all blew over as parts of Sean's body were found to prove he had been "taken care of" for killing mobsters. However a sighting of Sean in a local bar suggests that he may not have been as dead as all that. Francis naturally plays down the rumours as being the malicious actions of his ex Maggie Shea. Meanwhile in Francis' flat, Sean regrets going out for a drink after laying low for three years as the rumours start to take hold.I could have written the plot summary to help this film out but I'm not sure why I owe it that so instead I have delivered it as it stands – lack of internal logic, holes and all. Where you have plot holes you usually need something to help cover it up but here there isn't really anything like pace, action or depth to help this out. The plot is very simplistic and I was looking for it to use this as a frame to step back into the characters but it never does – so I'm left with a lacklustre crime drama that crawls along, relying on the moment. Burns' script is obvious and I didn't buy into it at all – not the characters and certainly not the scenario.Ironically his biggest worry as director is his script because it does drag his film down. Visually he does well to build a shadowy vision of Hell's Kitchen. His use of music slows it all down further though, and I never really felt like this was actually set in the early 1980's. Putting himself in the lead was probably also a mistake as he has nobody to tell him that he is only a so-so job. However he is nothing to compare to the woefully miscast Wood, who isn't very good even if you ignore how very young and fresh he looks throughout. Dawson was the main reason I came to this film (sorry, but I would watch her in anything pretty much), but she isn't given much to do, although to her credit she tries to find the feelings that Burns' script doesn't give her. The support cast has by-the-numbers turns from Gerety, McCourt, Platt and others but nobody can find gold in the dirt.Overall then a plodding and rather uninteresting drama that is not as good as the names in the cast would suggest. Burns (or rather cinematographer Fines) gives the film a great look but nothing else is really there – the story only gets you so far and the characters are superficial and don't really have much in the way of development. Average at best and not really worth a look.

Since when did smart dialogue have to use obscenities as adjectives? this film did not ring true as no one, wherever you go, uses the profanity and obscenities which fell out of the sewer mouths of these moronic characters and they slurped through one drink after another. They drank from morning to night yet still remained standing. Whatever became of style and wit? The film is amateurish and woefully miscast. Elijah Wood was FAR too young and cherubic to play a married man with a child. The only saving grace was Malachi McCourt who fit the part of the local Irish kingpin perfectly with a saintly appearance which belied his gangster livelihood. This was one of those heavy-handed films where what was coming next whacked you over the head without any subtlety. The film was a poor man's rip off of Saving Grace.

This was a great movie....it warmed the cockles of my heart, and even the sub-cockles. I think those were cockles anyway. Edward Burns has not turned in a performance like this since Edward Scissorhands. A disgruntled ex, Irish guys drinking during the day, the cold streets of Hells Kitchen, a Bimbo in Brookylyn, Itiallians with an Axe to grind and plastic on their couches, a bastard child, and a ending with more of a twist than Chubby Checker. It had all the elements of classic, so treat yourself to a 6" Turkey and Cheese from Subway, a Diet Dr.Pepper and enjoy this magical mystery ride that will delight your senses and captivate your soul. Eat Fresh.

After posting a review on this movie and then reading other postings, I finally figured out why the movie ended the way it did.In another posting, the reviewer was pointing out how dumb it was to put on a P-coat and cap of someone that every hit man would have their eyes open for. That's just asking to be killed. I believe Ed Burns' character figures that is the best way to end a lot of things - people looking for his brother, his own 'fall off the wagon' of going straight, and the affair with his brother's wife that he knew was a low thing to do, given the fact that she didn't know her husband was still alive. And being Catholic, to commit suicide is a mortal sin - one that prevents entry into heaven. Just let someone else kill him and his soul won't be eternally damned.Of course, this just opens things up for the younger brother to want to come back to seek revenge, and this movie fully demonstrates the futility of revenge upon revenge. I generally don't like to give too much details about movies so that other viewers can enjoy it and form their own opinions. However, the ending seems a little deeper (if somewhat wasteful) with my new found understanding, than just another killing in the vicious circle of revenge.