Rating of
2/4
Welcome to South Boston
Andrew - wrote on 07/13/12
Southie is a film that uses its South Boston location very well. It shows the late 90's Southie before it became gentrified and more expensive. It shows just how rough around the edges it was before the old buildings were demolished in favor of condominiums and luxury apartments. However, technically it is an abject failure. The sound and sound mixing are terrible. The music varies from being very good to very bad and like many movies taking place in Boston, the accents are often unconvincing.
The cast is solid and the acting is decent. Donnie Wahlberg was a natural choice for the role of Danny Quinn given his Dorchester upbringing. He is able to project Quinn's concerns quite effectively throughout the film and we get the sense that he is a Corleone-esque "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" type of situation.
The rest of the cast is fine, although I was surprised by the idiocy of Will Arnett's character, who clearly does not release what he is doing throughout the film. Lawrence Tierney was a perfect choice for the Whitey Bulger-like leader of one of the gang's and has one of the film's best monologues when he explains the futility of going to war with the other gang.
Overall, Southie has a compelling story and decent acting, but is undone by its low-budget and amateurish directing. With a better director and better sound, it would certainly be an enjoyable gangster film. Unfortunately, as it is now, Southie is not worth your time and is generally disappointing.
