Nonureva Really Surprised!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

elshikh4 A mafia boss transmits his orders to his men through bizarre songs he writes to be sung forcibly by poor lounge singer. This is an original idea. I bet (Martin Scorsese) was jealous! (John Fiore) looks great with noticeable wit (and noticeable heavy weight as well !). (Vincent Curatola) did wonderful as a funny mafia boss/poet. Did you see him in that disguise ? Hilarious. Like being Groucho Marx and Harpo together ! The rest of the cast were OK. But what wasn't OK, is how that original idea was treated. More than half of the movie we watch nothing but a song, a hit, a doubt. That's not bad, but it becomes bad when the movie gets sloppy, and stops showing us the droll songs anymore. It's how it loses a real factor of comedy. Plus, the matter of the competitor gangster wasn't used well (just a 5 minutes sequence about anti-Italian song). Then the third act was unbelievable as the best of jumble. The event of singing to the gang to make them give themselves up is idiot. Why that mafia boss doesn't ever attend his songs being performed in his club? And that climax; it's hard to satisfy, especially with so indifferent directing which, to tell you the truth, was the worst element at all. One point was in favor of the director though; the scenes of the lead and the boss meeting before every song; seeming more like meetings for planning crimes or attempting murders more than an artistic collaboration. Speaking of which, that reminds me of the potential depth of it (the one that might have tempted Scorsese). It says a lot about the importance of art; it can kill or give life. The performer is just a tool in the hands of more imperious artists. And, consequently, it's where the bad relationship between 2 artists generates bad result. The dictatorial domination of the boss made ugly or, at best, too-terrible-it's-laughable art. And see how it's, in its core, a story of down-and-out lounge singer nobody ever listened to, who becomes the one everybody listens to, and – magically – executes whatever, and I mean whatever, he says (loved the moment when he uses "the power" of his voice to chastise a standup comedian he hates), however all of that with big price must be paid. It's like a creative new treatment for Faust in a comic crime movie, or a mafia spoof where violence gets done by killer songs. Also I loved the touch of the policemen wanting desperately to be part of the showbiz by any mean. The last scene, with the boss so unexplainably out of prison, sums up the careless way this original comedy, along with these good ideas, were made. I wanted to give it 7, but it has to be only 6 out of 10. It's for a short wintry afternoon, nothing else. There is a fine movie there, but not made finely though. P.S : The title (Meet the Mobsters) is pointless, most probably they made it so close to (Meet the Fockers) one year earlier (To attract more viewers? Lousy !). (Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits) is better. And somewhat my title too!

ikaros-3 I seem among commenters to be alone as someone who came into this movie not as a Sopranos fan, but as a Larry Blamire fan—I've only seen The Sopranos once. It was good, but not enough for me to get cable hooked up again.So no, I come in as a rabid Skeleteer, a fan of "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra". And I was *going* to quote my IMDb review of Lost Skeleton, wondering what Blamire's directing style was like when he was shooting for himself and not emulating a style or genre, but looking at it, I see I never actually made that query in that review, so apparently I'm going to have to quote a hallucination.It is *definitely* a question I had in mind after one of my (large but still finite number)th viewing of Lost Skeleton: if he's shooting a movie for its own sake, how would he do it? The answer is: extremely well. When you take the camera off lockdown, he moves it sensibly, a welcome relief from the vertigo-inducing roller-coaster Peter Jackson used on 'King Kong' or the attention-deficit jump-cuttery of Michael (spitspit) Bay. Personally, I found his technique reminiscent of Altman: the camera moves with purpose, not just because it can. The violence is handled with care: real enough to underscore the plot, not so real as to derail the comedy.I'm looking forward to further non-genre projects in addition to The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, Dark and Stormy Night, and whatever else he may have in mind.The writing—heck, I'm still giggling over "Some of the biggest comedians in the world have done comedy!" It's perfect. Some of the … well, it's too twisted to be a simple 'turn of a phrase'. Some of the phrasing is very reminiscent of Lost Skeleton. Like the directing, however, when freed from the restrictions of the genre, we see whole new dimensions to Blamire's work.John Fiore dove in all the way to the character of Johnny Slade. I can't even begin to think of how many takes it required in studio to get a clean take on those lyrics. He's completely committed to the character, and so is Vincent Curatola as the mysterious and weirdly creative Mr. Samantha, and watching their interactions as their relationship evolves over the course of the movie is terrific.Highly recommended, whatever the title (it'll always be "Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits" to me—"Meet the Mobsters" just doesn't swing). It's funny all the way through—I had several 'pause for an extended gigglefit' moments.8/10

darkorion98 I just watched this movies and I thought it was hilarious. John Fiore does a great job in the role of Johnny Slade a wannabe lounge singer who ends up working for a mob boss in his new club unknowingly for awhile helping him do his dirty work. The songs are hilarious and the outcomes is funny. Although this movie is low budget you couldn't tell. The filming and the directing are well done and the acting is very professional with great team of actors like John Fiore, Richard Portnow and Vincent Curatola that make this movie worth seeing. I recommend this movie to anyone who would loves comedies. Looks for this movie at your local video store or buy a copy from Amanzon

worthley-1 John Fiore and Frank Santorelli - as well as the rest of cast - are a RIOT to watch (call the cops!) in this wonderfully crazy comical adventure. Portnow, Curatola, Sirianni are terrific as their characters play off of Fiore's goofy, self-absorbed importance. Sirianni adds the right touch of toughness and assuredness in the midst of this group of harebrained individuals. Red Peters shows what it's really like to be a stand up comic! Santorelli is hysterical...(you just gotta see to see what I mean!) Blaire is sultry and seductive. VERY CLEVER AND CONVINCING CONCEPT...we are talking FUN! - enjoyable - good time to be had.....this is a classic!