Ruvin Orbach's longish short-film is basically a morality play about
two brothers, one good and one bad. The bad one is a compulsive
gambler the good one lives in a seminary. Being a gambler and having
debts is not good; getting the mob involved is even worse.
Two of the actors are of The Sopranos fame. The entire production has
a highly realistic feel about it: the dialogue, acting and settings
are very, very convincing. This squalid world of violence, money and
smoke is hauntingly engrossing in its conviction but repulsive in its
morality, or lack thereof.
Brotherly love is severely tested when The Boss (Frankie Cee) tells
the priest-in-the-making he has two choices, neither one easy: his
brother die in pain or he kill his brother and let him escape pain. It
is the stuff of heartbreak of course. The gambler is naive and young
and careless, not deliberately cruel and so we empathise with his
untimely end.
I would like to point out that the universe of these people, of these
two siblings, is microscopic and shut. Did no one else consider
running away from Brooklyn? I guess spatial tautness is a precondition
for morality plays.
Andrew Staker
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