Three-films-in-one that would have been better off separate

MBunge

This tale of the tangentially connected lives of three Staten Islanders is well acted, well written and well directed, but would likely have been much better as three separate films. It has three very different tones, a plot device that belongs in a sci-fi flick and an ending that makes you wonder what the point of the whole exercise was.

Parmie Tarzo (Vincent D'Onfrio) is a pudgy, bespectacled mobster who dreams of taking over the Staten Island underworld with his three thugs. He also dreams of setting the world record for holding his breath underwater and of finding the men who broke into his home and shot his elderly mother in the shoulder.

Sully Halverson (Ethan Hawke) is a septic tank cleaner who's very self-conscious about his lack of intellect. When he and his wife decide to have a baby, Sully becomes consumed with the idea of having his kid genetically engineered to be smarter than he is and thinks he can get the money for it by breaking into Parmie's home and stealing from his safe.

Jasper Sabiano (Seymour Cassel) is an old deaf-mute who slices meat for a living at a deli. He also plays the trifecta at the track, hoping for that one big win, is friends by Sully and cuts up the bodies brought to him by Parmie's gang for disposal.

The stories of these three men are told in order, Parmie-Sully-Jasper, as they all intersect at the deli one day. Parmie ends up dressed like Mr. Rourke and sitting in a tree. Sully gets nabbed by the mob. Jasper winds up whimsically seeking a violent redemption for his sins. Their lives come together a final time and all of them get what they want, but only one of them survives.

There's a lot to like about Staten Island. Unfortunately, it's doomed as a piece of entertainment by its three incongruous story lines. Parmie's section is clearly comedic, sometimes overtly and sometimes darkly, but never really serious. Then Sully comes in and his life is all serious, except with this over-the-top genetic redesign of his unborn son plopped into the middle of it all. I mean, come on! It's like watching Goodfellas and having Henry Hill decide he wants to have a sex change. And then Jasper life takes over the narrative with a distinctly fairy tale quality, like a modern fable of New York City's forgotten borough. All three separate tones are swirled together at the conclusion, but it takes like peppermint, ravioli and spinach.

It's too bad because Vincent D'Onofrio gives another outstanding performance as a gangster who gets beyond all the clichés, even the ones he indulges. Writer/director James DeMonaco also came up with some good stuff, like the chaos at the robbery of Parmie's home and the souvenirs Jasper takes from the corpses he dismembers. Even the rapport between Sully and his wife manages to feel real and interesting, though we see little of it.

You could any of these stories and make a movie of it. Putting them all together and giving each a dissimilar sensibility? It doesn't really work. Staten Island certainly isn't terrible. It's just not good enough to deserve to be watched instead of something else.

score 4/10

MBunge 5 June 2011

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2439099/