`The Crew' is a comedy that attempts to be `Goodfellas' plus forty years. Four aging wiseguys have retired to Florida and they spend most of their time reminiscing about the glory days. Eager for some action, they cook up a number of bumbling schemes that make them feel like they are back in the rackets. The screenplay is mildly droll, but lacks anything that might be considered hilarious. It is a bit more entertaining if you happen to have grown up in any metro New York Italian neighborhood, since the actors do a good job of capturing the colloquialisms and attitudes one might have found there.
The film has a TV feel about it, which is not surprising given the fact that the writer is Barry Fanaro (`Benson', `Golden Girls', `Archie Bunker's Place') and the director is Michael Dinner (`The Wonder Years', `Chicago Hope', `The Street'). Also working against the premise is the fact that we have been inundated with Mafia humor (`Analyze This', `Mickey Blue Eyes', etc.) lately and the novelty is wearing off.
The acting is okay, but not great. Richard Dreyfuss is reasonably good as the narrator and leader of the motley crew. Dan Hedaya and Seymour Cassell are also wryly humorous as his henchmen. Burt Reynolds is probably the weak link here. Carrie-Anne Moss has a minor role that doesn't give us much by which to judge her talents. The best performance is probably by Jennifer Tilly, who plays her standard airhead sex-bomb character, which says a lot about the general mediocrity of the film.
This occasionally amusing dark comedy has a veteran cast but fails to elevate itself above sitcom class humor. I rated it 5/10. Add a point or two if you like mob humor or grew up in New Jersey in the sixties.
The film has a TV feel about it, which is not surprising given the fact that the writer is Barry Fanaro (`Benson', `Golden Girls', `Archie Bunker's Place') and the director is Michael Dinner (`The Wonder Years', `Chicago Hope', `The Street'). Also working against the premise is the fact that we have been inundated with Mafia humor (`Analyze This', `Mickey Blue Eyes', etc.) lately and the novelty is wearing off.
The acting is okay, but not great. Richard Dreyfuss is reasonably good as the narrator and leader of the motley crew. Dan Hedaya and Seymour Cassell are also wryly humorous as his henchmen. Burt Reynolds is probably the weak link here. Carrie-Anne Moss has a minor role that doesn't give us much by which to judge her talents. The best performance is probably by Jennifer Tilly, who plays her standard airhead sex-bomb character, which says a lot about the general mediocrity of the film.
This occasionally amusing dark comedy has a veteran cast but fails to elevate itself above sitcom class humor. I rated it 5/10. Add a point or two if you like mob humor or grew up in New Jersey in the sixties.