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Kill the Irishman

Play trailer Poster for Kill the Irishman R Released Mar 11, 2010 1h 46m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 51 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Mobster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) ignites a turf war in 1970s Cleveland that leads to the collapse of the Mafia in several major U.S. cities.
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Kill the Irishman

Kill the Irishman

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Critics Consensus

Kill the Irishman may not add much in the way of new ingredients to its crowded genre, but the admirable efforts of a solidly assembled cast add extra depth to a familiar story.

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Critics Reviews

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Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Certainly the filmmakers rounded up the right cast of tough-guy actors for this story of mob activity, but their presence doesn't lend much vigor to this unfocused and sentimental tale. Rated: 2/5 Apr 15, 2011 Full Review Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic The cast makes up for some occasionally spotty storytelling and telegraphing of events that keep "Irishman" from being as good as it could have been. Rated: 3.5/5 Apr 7, 2011 Full Review Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle What makes this film special and memorable is the character of Danny Green, who is not the usual neighborhood hoodlum you see in movies, the kind who gets in deep and gradually loses his soul. Rated: 3/4 Mar 24, 2011 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins The action, suspense, and tone of the movie are as flat as Stevenson's inflectionless dialogue. Rated: 6/10 Nov 30, 2020 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com A solid indie action flick with a strong ensemble cast. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 13, 2020 Full Review Brent McKnight The Last Thing I See "Kill the Irishman" is like a history book, where this and that and this other thing all happen at the appropriate moments, but there is little in the way of character development or emotional connection. Rated: C Jul 11, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Will S This movie is a series of comedically over dramatized scenes patched together into something that somewhat resembles a storyline. The acting is terrible, the script poorly written, the development of plot and characters non existent. This entire movie feels like a parody. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/02/24 Full Review A Terrible acting. No charisma. Direction and dialogue was mediocre Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/27/23 Full Review Matthew D An entertaining Irish mob picture about a tough Irishman. Witness the Irish mob wage war with the Italian mafia in Cleveland, Ohio. It's a fun movie through and through as you get to see Ray Stevenson portray Irish union leader and Irish mobster Danny Greene. Kill the Irishman (2011) is easily Stevenson's finest acting as tough guy Danny Greene with his quick temper, mad talk, daring actions, brutal kills, and resilient existence. His acting carries the whole movie and elevates it into a neat character study biopic rather than just a simple mob movie. Jonathan Hensleigh's direction is pretty neat and clean as he tells a rough man's life story in an efficient way. He makes the time period of 1970's Cleveland feel real and seedy. Patrizia von Brandenstein's production design is really neat and old school with green everywhere! Karl Walter Lindenlaub's cinematography uses wide shots for pensive reflection and vicious violence alike. Douglas Crise's editing is kind of all over the place as he takes you from place to place a bit too suddenly. When he's got you in a scene, you are absorbed by the neat shots and great acting, but the cuts to over things are jarring. Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters' writing is a bit too machismo driven, but I guess that comes with the territory. I don't always feel like the characters talk like real people instead of movie characters. Patrick Cassidy's score is neat with Irish folk melodies and hard rhythms throughout Kill the Irishman for an old timey feel. Melissa Bruning's dusty leather costumes are great and the ladies' dresses are quite pretty. Kill the Irishman's supporting cast is pretty incredible really with Linda Cardellini as Danny Greene's first wife Joan Madigan. She's enchanting as a sweet waitress and loving mother, while poignant as a wife watching her husband commit heinous crimes. Her eyes tell you everything you need to know. Vincent D'Onofrio is great as Danny's supportive mafia friend John Nardi. Val Kilmer is excellent as Joe Manditski the police officer and childhood friend of Danny Greene. Christopher Walken is fun and frightening as the cold mafia connection Shondor Birns. Robert Davi is awesome as the cold assassin Ray Ferritto. Fionnula Flanagan has a cameo as a nice old Irish lady. Bob Gunton plays such a mean, gross union boss named Jerry Merke. Jason Butler Harner plays a good seedy gambler Art. Vinnie Jones is solid as Danny's garbage connection Keith Ritson. Laura Ramsay is very pretty as Danny's blonde girlfriend Ellie O'Hara. I love Paul Sorvino as Sicilian mob boss Tony Salerno. Mike Starr is funny as the mafia goon Leo "Lips" Moceri. Lastly, Vinny Vella has a cameo as Frank Brancato. In short, Kill the Irishman's cast is stacked with talented character actors. They all don't get to shine equally, but they all deliver while on screen. In all, Kill the Irishman is no Goodfellas, Killing Them Softly, or The Godfather, but it feels almost as good as The Iceman if you liked that movie. I have enjoyed Kill the Irishman thoroughly more than once and can easily see myself returning to this explosive picture. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review Anthony D Good mob flick about a not well known story… Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review SEAN Not the greatest gangster movie but it's worth giving it a watch... Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Bruce M I thought the story was great, right from the get-go. I've watched it twice. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/14/22 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Mobster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) ignites a turf war in 1970s Cleveland that leads to the collapse of the Mafia in several major U.S. cities.
Director
Jonathan Hensleigh
Producer
Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, Eugene Musso, Tommy Reid
Screenwriter
Jonathan Hensleigh, Jeremy Walters
Distributor
Anchor Bay
Production Co
Code Entertainment
Rating
R (Some Sexual Content/Nudity|Language|Strong Violence)
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 11, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 28, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 46m
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