An Italian mobster movie that, although a fine film, could have been an absolute classic. Cop Maurizio Merli (aka the Marlboro Man) pursues Mafia 'Don' Michele Barresi across two continents after the kingpin guns down a rival. He travels from Milan to New York City with a witness in his custody, the only man who has the power to identify Barresi as the shooter. On the way from Milan though it's a rough journey as shooters try to take them out at every turn. The only downfall here is the pacing, spending way too much time in Italy, when by far the movie's most effective scenes are the ones in New York, where the city is captured so brilliantly in all it's vintage glory. So much time is spent running through Italy, and on the usual romantic interlude between cop Merli and his ex-wife. This portion of the film is perfectly fine but causes things to sag a bit in the middle, as the last half hour, the New York portion, is electrifying by comparison. Plus the writer of "From Corleone to Brooklyn" would have us believe that in order to get from Milan to New York, you first need to take a train and then a bus from Milan to Rome, which isn't accurate. While this is an above average crime thriller, I believe if the two had taken a direct flight from Milan to New york and spent the bulk of their time in the city, this could have an absolute classic. Still a fun ride and worth tracking down. Legendary pulp director Umberto Lenzi made a bunch of these crime dramas, and this is one of his finest, featuring all the bloody shootouts and high energy chase scenes that fans would expect, including an impressive car chase through the extremely narrow cobble stone side streets of Milan, littered with pedestrians. Lots of great mob lingo and double crosses and of course, done with the style of the best films of the era. From what I have read people tend to look for the Italian language version of the movie, which makes sense. However large portions of this one seem to filmed in English, with live sound, so the English language version should not be dismissed. In any language this is a great ride.
Review of From Corleone to Brooklyn
