Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more

 

State of Grace (1990)

Director: Phil Joanou

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

While not in the same class as GoodFellas, this saga about Irish-American hoods in Hell's Kitchen during the 1970s is out of the same stable; and though sometimes monstrously violent, it's a hugely impressive piece of work for a young director previously known for his documentary U2 Rattle and Hum. The plot is familiar: youthful loyalty compromised, betrayal, kinship, ethnic rivalry, protection of territory, return to roots, revenge. More important is the visual impact of the film, which begins in a blur of motion and ends with a bloody St Patrick's Day shoot-out. But most impactful are the performances: the much underrated Penn as a prodigal returnee, Wright as the ghetto woman who moved up and away, Harris as the bossman, and - most astonishingly - Oldman showing the ferocity of a Joe Pesci, the aimlessness of a Mean Streets De Niro, and the sex-appeal of a pre-fight Mickey Rourke.

Author: SGr 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Phil Joanou

Producer: Ned Dowd, Randy Ostrow, Ron Rotholz

Cast: Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright, John Turturro, John C Reilly, RD Call, Joe Vitorelli, Burgess Meredith full cast

Genre(s): Gangsters

Duration: 134 mins


Features

Do overs!

Do overs!

After Race to Witch Mountain, what should Disney remake next?

Gray's anatomy

James Gray wants to push buttons—again.

The next big thing?

Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.

Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema

So you think you can dance, comrade?

Puppet master

Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.

Socratic method

Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.

Wander woman

Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.

Oscars

Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.