Men of Respect

Last updated

Men of Respect
Men of Respect.jpg
Directed byWilliam C. Reilly
Written byWilliam C. Reilly
William Shakespeare
Produced byEphraim Horowitz
Starring
CinematographyBobby Bukowski
Edited byElizabeth Kling
Music by Misha Segal
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • May 1990 (1990-05)(France)
  • January 18, 1991 (1991-01-18)(U.S.)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages English
Spanish
Box office$139,155 [1]

Men of Respect is a 1990 crime drama film, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth . It stars John Turturro as Mike Battaglia, a Mafia hitman who climbs his way to the top by killing his boss.

Contents

The film also stars Rod Steiger, Stanley Tucci, Dennis Farina and Peter Boyle and is directed by William C. Reilly. It is not the first film to transplant Macbeth to the American mob culture; this was done in the 1955 film Joe MacBeth .

Plot

Mike Battaglia, a powerful lieutenant in the D’Amico crime family, executes a large-scale hit on the family's enemies, earning a promotion to a caporegime and the undying respect of his boss, Don Charlie D'Amico. Despite the Don's generosity, however, Battaglia secretly resents D'Amico for passing him over as his successor.

At the instigation of Ruthie, his wife, Battaglia murders D'Amico and has his sons shipped off to Florida, clearing the way for him to assume control of the D'Amico family. He becomes an underworld despot, deciding to kill anyone he suspects as a threat to his power, including former ally Bankie Como and his unconnected son, Philly, who survives an assassination attempt.

At his coronation as boss, a drunken Battaglia alienates two more of the mob's powerful soldiers. Afraid that Battaglia's reign will spell the end of the D'Amico family, several of Battaglia's underlings desert him and ally themselves with D'Amico's eldest son, Mal.

Battaglia puts a hit out on his chief rival, Matt Duffy, but the assassins cannot find him, instead murdering his wife and son. Ruthie commits suicide out of guilt, which devastates Battaglia. Determined to get revenge for the death of his family, Duffy comes to kill Battaglia, who arrogantly proclaims that "no man of woman born" can harm him. Duffy responds that he was delivered via caesarian section, and therefore was not technically born of a woman. Disposing of Battaglia, he clears the way for Mal to assume control of the family.

Reception

The film has been praised for its accuracy in depicting Mafia rituals, which are said to be more authentic than those in The Godfather or GoodFellas . However the film failed to please audiences or critics: Leonard Maltin found it "pretentious" and "unintentionally comic" and Daniel Rosenthal describes it as "providing the most risible chunks of modernised Shakespeare in screen history." [2] [3]

Cast

ActorRoleMacBeth equivalency
John Turturro Mike Battaglia Macbeth
Katherine Borowitz Ruthie Battaglia Lady Macbeth
Dennis Farina "Bankie" Como Banquo
Peter Boyle Matt Duffy Macduff
Rod Steiger Charlie D'Amico King Duncan
Steven Wright Sterling
Stanley Tucci Mal D'Amico Malcolm
Carl Capotorto Don D'Amico Donalbain
Michael Badalucco SalSeyton
Robert ModicaCarmello RossiRoss
David Thornton Philly Como Fleance
Dan Grimaldi CarmineCaithness
Joseph CarberryLeonettiLennox
Richard PetrocelliArtieAngus
Edward GallardoManuelMenteith
Joseph RagnoPadrino RicciSiward

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Men of Respect". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  2. ↑ Brode, Douglas, ed. (2000). Shakespeare in the movies: from the silent era to Shakespeare in love. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. p. 193. ISBN   978-1-55972-514-9.
  3. ↑ Rosenthal, Daniel (2007). 100 Shakespeare films. BFI screen guides. London: British Film Institute. pp. 110–111. ISBN   978-1-84457-170-3.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.