BigLouKnows: To Kill an Irishman (2011)

Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, To Kill an Irishman is a dramatic film depicting the live and times of the bushwhacking, fierce, Celtic warrior Danny Greene. This film is based on a book, sharing the same title, written by Rick Porrello. It is uncommon for me to fully appreciate a film rendered from a book, because so often, the film will hype up scenes for cinematic ‘enjoyment’ or add superfluous endings. But this film is the exception to the cause. The director and writers were able to highlight Danny Greene’s most famous and infamous exploits as he fought, tooth and nail, against the more powerful and rich Cleveland La Costa Nostra (that means Italian Mafia for those who of you are less informed). The cast is a well-balanced list of seasoned actors that included: Ray Stevenson (Danny Greene), Vincent D'Onofrio (John Nardi), Christopher Walken (Shonod Birns) and Val Kilmer (Joe Manditski, based on the real life Cleveland Detective Ed Kovacic). The film follows Greene as he fights to protect his family and underlings all the while seeking to cut out a piece of the lucrative Cleveland rackets for himself.

In this film as well as the book, Greene is a throwback to the larger than life Chicago gangster, Dion O’Bannon, whom was the dread and nemesis of Al Capone, and like O’Bannon, Greene is portrayed as financially supporting many impoverished Irish families by supplying turkeys on Christmas and Thanksgiving and paying much of these families bills, which included send their children, as well as orphans to private schools. There are many scenes that emphasis the bravado, fearlessness and slight insanity of Greene, because let’s be honest, to take on the Mafia, or an organization that powerful, one would have to be a little of kilter, right? Nevertheless, his persistent mocking and antagonizing nature regarding the Mafia is quite entertaining. For instance, there is one scene where he is being interviewed without a shirt, arms interlocked, and bearing only his gold Celtic cross. Anther scene shows Greene dealing with some rowdy Hell’s Angels that have been terrorizing his neighborhood. He stands toe-to-toe with the gang’s leader and recites his catch phrase “want to dance with me”. The movie is fast paced and the characters’ are well developed. The story line is very close to the book and pretty much faithful to Greene’s exploits. I highly recommend this film, if you like a gangster film that is. I give it 3 ½ shamrocks.