The Pope of Greenwich Village

1984's THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE may play like an inferior imitation of Martin Scorsese's MEAN STREETS, but wherever you land on that count, this is a few hours worth investing, especially if you dig goombah dramas.  Ones with lots of texture and atmosphere.  Admirably, director Stuart Rosenberg's film achieves a real lived in vibe - amazing how location shooting really gives you a sort of voyeurism that immerses.  Little distance is put between the movie and its viewers; this thing positively breathes. 

Charlie (Mickey Rourke) and Paulie (Eric Roberts) are cousins whose turf is in or somewhere near Little Italy.  Charlie is level headed, with a decent gig as a maitre d' and a responsible girlfriend named Diane (Daryl Hannah).  He dreams of opening his own bistro.   Paulie works at the same restaurant as a waiter, prone to skimming checks.  He's an unmistakable hustler; scheming is in his blood.  His chicanery gets he and his cousin fired, especially bad news for Charlie, already strapped by alimony payments.  He will also learn that Diane is pregnant.

But of course Paulie has a plan.   There's the eternal sure thing horse bet.  And...a safe nearby he knows is loaded.  Foolproof job, especially with the partnership of a veteran locksmith from the Bronx, Barney (Kenneth McMillan, in one of his best roles).  Charlie is understandably nervous, but what choice does he have? Mainly, it seems, he is forever compelled to go along with Paulie's dubious ventures because he loves him.  He's blood, and that's what ultimately matters.  This is pretty much the extent of it, the theme of this movie, adapted by Vincent Patrick from his bestselling novel. 

The milieu is vivid, grittily shot by D.P. John Bailey.  No soundstage could've lent such an air.  The performances are plenty vivid as well.  Rourke, emitting some serious De Niro vibes (who was originally considered for this role), has real star power.  A quiet smolder of ethnicity.  Roberts, on the other hand, regularly goes over the top, especially after he loses a thumb courtesy of local mobster "Bed Bug" Eddie's (Burt Young) goons.  Seems that the money in the safe belonged to him.  Things didn't improve for the cousins when a corrupt cop called Bunky (Jack Kehoe) showed up and fell down an elevator shaft when he discovered the robbery in progress. 

Geraldine Page gets a few great scenes as Bunky's feisty ma, enough so to get nominated for an Oscar. 

THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, which does have a questionable climax, has not enjoyed the legacy of Scorsese's pictures, or even things like A BRONX TALE.  This despite Quentin's Tarantino's declaration that it is one of the coolest movies ever.   While there's more than enough plot, the film is at its best fleshing out these people, observing their behavior.  The cast, which also includes the great character actor M. Emmet Walsh and even Tony Lip, is excellent.  Even Hannah, in a mostly thankless role, gets to slap Rourke across the face three times in a convincing bit of frustration.   But the the two leads are the reason to watch this.  I'm not sure if I was supposed to laugh at Roberts, but at times his pathetic Pauline is just too much of a spectacle not to have.