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up for a cameo in one of the film’s best scenes. Looking like a retired Hell’s Angel biker, if it wasn’t for his recognizable gravelly voice, Kilmer would be almost as unrecognizable as he was on Entourage two years ago. Naturally, his scene is just shy of being over-the-top and it’s largely inconsequential to the plot, but it’s got a sense of heartfelt emotion sadly missing from the rest of the movie.
Without any real emotional connection, the violence comes off as quite abusive to the viewer. One scene in which a female bartender named Brandy (Piper Perabo) is beaten up and dragged mercilessly across a bar littered with shards of glass is particularly brutal. The violence is a necessity for a story of this nature but without any real investment, the numerous shootings and stabbings come off more sensationalist than they should.
In these moments of harsh brutality and distanced emotion, it’s impossible not to, albeit unfairly, measure 10th and Wolf against Donnie Brasco. As Tommy’s audio cassette tapes crassly pile up on the evidence shelf tuned to James Brown’s “Living in America,” I couldn’t help but compare the lack of personality to the resonance of Brasco’s corresponding scene in which Johnny Depp wearily explains the many meanings of “forget about it” to Paul Giammatti’s FBI Technician.
More egregious is the way 10th and Wolf overstays its welcome by a good twenty minutes. After an extended shootout and a sting operation finally permit the film to stage its obligatory resolution, we’re already nearing the 110 minute-mark and by that point we’ve long since cared about the fate of these rough-hewn hoodlums.
Movie Grade: C
Synopsis:
A former street tough returns to his Philadelphia home after a stint in the military. Back on his home turf, he once again finds himself tangling with the mob boss who was instrumental in his going off to be a soldier. |
