Tough stuff: This film is rough

Knockaround Guys

Starring Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Andrew…

Knockaround Guys

Starring Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Andrew Davoli, John Malkovich and Dennis Hopper

Directed by Brian Koppleman and David Levein

Poor Matty Demaret (Barry Pepper) just can’t catch a break. The son of notorious mob boss Benny Chains (Dennis Hopper), he’s too soft for the mob and too much of a threat to be hired as a sports agent.

So he’s stuck playing errand boy to his father and Uncle Teddy (John Malkovich), delivering sandwiches and driving a Cadillac. Finally, Matty gets his chance when his father puts him in charge of delivering a cash loan of $500,000. Matty gives his friend, Johnny Marbles (Seth Green) the actual task of flying the money back and forth, with specific instructions not to screw up, only using the four-letter F word mobsters are so fond of.

Of course, Johnny Marbles screws up.

Now it’s up to Matty, Marbles and their friends Taylor Reese (Vin Diesel) and Chris Scarpa (Andrew Davoli) to find the money because it’s Benny Chains’ butt on the line.

For a movie about the mob, there is a surprising lack of violence – or any action at all. The characters are interesting until they start to sound like a bunch of whiny rich boys who lost some money and spend more time brooding about their complicated lives than trying to do something about it.

The mystery can be wrapped up in about 30 minutes. After that, the plot is stagnant for a while. Diesel’s character is good only for looking massive in a tight shirt and beating people up on demand, afterward dispensing soulful advice to his conflicted best friend. Some of the more dramatic scenes look like a camcorder-happy father who just discovered the zoom button, filmed them. Instead of feeling sympathy or emotion for Matty Demaret, the audience just ends up bored.

The premise for this movie, a character study about growing up in the mob, sounds promising, but “Knockaround Guys” doesn’t deliver. Just when the movie gets exciting, it quickly becomes corny. Even if you are a big fan of some of the actors, do yourself a favor: wait until it comes out on video, save the $8 and buy a book instead.