The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
Director: James Goldstone
Year Released: 1971
Rating: 1.5
The title group of wannabe mobsters take on an established boss in this mob parody; truth be told, it's not exactly funny - or not funny as the book may have been (I've never read it, but have read some of Jimmy Breslin's columns). The sole saving grace to this is Robert De Niro as an Italian bicyclist/thief who impersonates a priest - the movie relies on some pathetic gags (a midget, a lion, close-ups of faces stuffed with pasta, a crazy Italian mother) and any potential effect has been dulled over the years by the plethora of mob satires (Analyze This, also with De Niro, is better). Question for people who were alive during the early seventies and can remember it: is Leigh Taylor-Young walking around New York wearing just a really long shirt? Wouldn't she have needed bodyguards?
