The Engineer: The Shin Bet’s Hunt for a Terrorist

After his death, the Palestinian Authority named a street after Hamas’s mastermind of suicide bombings, Yahya Ayyash. That is the kind of partner for peace they are. Arafat even took time out from his talks with Rabin to praise the mass murderer. This film tells the story of how they got him. In 1993, peace was supposed to be breaking out in Israel, but explosions were rocking the streets of Tel Aviv instead, as viewers vividly see in Danny Abeckaser’s The Engineer, which releases tomorrow in theaters and on-demand.

The film’s opening attack is particularly vicious in its execution. First one Hamas terrorist blew up his explosive vest on a crowded bus. Then a second detonated his after first responders rushed in to aid the wounded, followed by a third nearby. These should not be merely considered acts of terrorism. They are crimes against humanity that Yahya Ayyash, a.k.a. “The Engineer” planned and directed (from a safe distance, naturally). In this case, they also kill the daughter of fictional Senator David Adler.

The American-born Etan is like the Jack Bauer of the Shin Bet. He was on suspension after getting a little too carried away during his last interrogation, but after the recent mass murders, it is all hands on-deck, definitely including his. They will have some competition from a group of mercenaries recruited by Adler, to avenge his daughter. Etan has strict instructions from the Israeli PM himself: no strongarm stuff. However, his old associate Avi (whom Adler helped immigrate to American after some unspecified trouble) has no such constraints. Nor do the fellow former Mossad agents-turned mercs Avi recruits for the job.

Like Dead Shot, The Engineer is more serious and ambitious than the average straight-to-VOD action movie, but it falls somewhat short in the execution. Kosta Kondilopoulos’s screenplay reflects the complexity of the geopolitical dynamics faced by Israel in the mid-1990s and some of the acts of terrorism depicted are truly horrifying. However, the scenes presumably intended to show off Etan’s interpersonal skills, both with his family and his colleagues, drag interminably.

Mob Town: Edgar Croswell Crashes the Mafia’s Party

In the time between Eliot Ness and Rudy Giuliani (before he lost his mind), Edgar D. Croswell was the great American gang-buster of his era. Although he later served on New York State Organized Crime Task Force, he worked the biggest case of his career as a New York State Trooper. In 1957, the mob threw a party in upstate Apalachin, NY (not Appalachia) and Croswell was determined to give them the reception they deserved. The dedicated lawman crashes the infamous Apalachin Mafia summit meeting in Danny A. Abeckaser’s Mob Town, which opens this Friday in New York.

Being a heads-up lawman, Croswell smelled a rat when he pulled over an associate of local bottling magnate and reputed mobster Joe Barbara, driving without a license. However, a judge in the mob’s pocket kicked him loose and Croswell’s boss was content to be rid of him. Of course, the whole sordid episode stirred Croswell righteous indignation and focused his suspicions on Barbara. A year later, Croswell’s on-and-off surveillance paid off when he observed Barbara buying suspiciously large quantities of meat, fish, and booze.

Having just solidified his position as boss of New York, New York (by whacking the interlopers), Vito Genovese wants to take a leadership position among his peers, so decided to call a summit someplace way off the beaten path. Barbara’s Apalachin home fit the bill perfectly. However, the mid-level mobster is about as subtle as a Joe Pesci character hopped up on Red Bull and amphetamines, so his manic preparations inevitable attract Croswell’s attention.

The real-life story of Croswell and the Apalachin meeting (which really did happen pretty much the way Jon Carlo & Joe Gilford’s screenplay depicts) is absolutely fascinating. However, as a work of cinema, Mob Town is a low-impact, overly safe endeavor. There is never much tension to speak of, but there is way too much slack, especially in the sluggish first act. Still, Abeckaser and his design team manage to give the film a strikingly stylish retro-period look and vibe. In terms of the cars, costumes, trappings, and settings, they over-achieve working within their indie budget constraints.

It is hard to say whether Abeckaser the supporting actor (who had a small part in The Irishman) is his own best ally or worst enemy, but you have to give him props for the energy and commitment of his over-the-top fuggedaboutit performance as Barbara. He also has some spirited chemistry with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, playing Barbara’s knowing and complicit wife, Josephine. Similarly, the great Robert Davi chews the scenery with relish as Genovese.

Black Rose: Red Heat Redux for the Putin Era

Sadly, the constant abuse of the media, activists, and politicians has so thoroughly demoralized the LAPD, they will have to import a hard-charging shoot-from-the-hip cop from Russia to stop a serial killer. Since all the victims have been Russian-speaking women, they will have a legitimate excuse to recruit the help of Vladimir Kazatov. Unfortunately, the killer will soon turn his attention towards Kazatov’s pretty American partner in Black Rose (trailer here), directed by Alexander Nevsky (because Ivan the Terrible wasn’t available), which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Despite the mounting death toll, the Russian community refuses to talk to the LAPD. Of course, the expats are sure to trust Kazatov, because it’s not like the Russian legal system has a reputation for corruption and oppression. Regardless, he and LAPD profiler Emily Smith quickly establish all the murdered women worked as “hostesses” in an exclusive Russian gentleman’s club.

That ought to be a significant break in the case, but Kazatov still has to sneak around, kicking down doors, sans warrant. Further complicating the investigation, the killer somehow got a hold of Smith’s number and frequently calls to do deep breathing exercises.

Black Rose is the sort of film where the police think the most effective course of action they can take is standing around, having expositional conversations. Aside from the initial Moscow bank robbery sequence, featuring Euro cult favorite Matthias Hues, there just isn’t a lot of action in this action movie. Instead, it relies on the Tracy-and-Hepburn chemistry shared by Nevsky (a bodybuilder-turned-actor, born Alexander Kuritsyn) and Kristanna Loken (from Terminator 3 and BloodRayne). The fact that their endless bantering doesn’t completely collapse into a train wreck is a near miracle.

About the only thing going for Black Rose is a supporting cast chocked full of reliable character actors, including the great Robert Davi, chewing the scenery for all its worth as Captain Frank Dalano. However, it is rather depressing to see the post-Highlander Adrian Paul mope through the film as Matt Robinson, the ineffectual detective yanked off the case.

Nevsky has decent action chops, but with a name like that, he’d darn well better. Loken also deserves credit for gamely soldiering through, but their simplistic investigation holds little interest. We just can’t recommend Black Rose, but we’d be willing to give Nevsky another shot if his subsequent Showdown in Manila (directed by Mark Dacascos) follows it into theaters. That’s the long and the short of it when Black Rose opens this Friday (4/28) in LA at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.

Club Life: New York Nightlife Circa 2008

One of Johnny D’s greatest accomplishments as a night club promoter will be drumming up business on Tuesday nights. Funny, those of us who went to school in Ohio might just remember Tuesday as a traditional going out night, but evidently Manhattan hipsters needed more convincing. Viewers get a sanitized behind-the-scenes peak into the ins-and-outs of night club promotion, based on the real life experiences of co-star-co-screenwriter Danny “A.” Abeckaser in Fabrizio Conte’s Club Life (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Believe it or not, getting beautiful women to your club is a top priority for a veteran operator like Mark Cohen. If you comp enough models, the prospective sugar daddies and horn dogs will follow. It turns out “Johnny D,” as he will soon be known, has a talent for it. He could use the money too. The independent limo driver’s father has had a massive stroke and the family has no insurance.  

Starting with his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend and her hot friends and quickly graduating to bored junior models living in agency apartments, Johnny D brings a steady stream of investment banker bait to the club Cohen promotes. However, Johnny D (or is that D Train) grows tired of lining the pockets of the sleazy owner. With Cohen, he launches “Tuesday, Baby, Tuesday,” taking over a club on the dead night by guaranteeing a minimum dollar volume at the bar. Of course, it is only a matter of time before someone as ambitious as Johnny D clashes with someone as territorial as Cohen.

Frankly, Club Life should have been way more hedonistic than it turned out to be. For some reason, Conte is just as interested in Johnny D’s strained relationship with his judgmental mother as he is in the sausage making of the night club business. While it might imply Cohen’s boss is a bit of a shady character, organized crime plays no appreciable role in the film, which will probably strike seasoned New Yorkers as rather Pollyannaish.

Despite the risk of accentuating the negative, a little more gangsterism could have worked wonders for Club Land. After all, the best aspect of the film is the attitude delivered by Abeckaser as Cohen and Robert Davi as his demanding client. Listening to them sneer and jeer is a lot of fun. On the other hand, Tovah Feldshuhh is routinely great on stage, but she is a real wet blanket as the charmless Mother D. Still, Entourage’s Jerry Ferrara makes a believable enough hustler, but the film has him spinning his wheels in too many tractionless scenes.

There is enough New Yorkiness in Club Land to keep it watchable, but it is hard to shake the suspicion Conte, Abeckaser, and company have watered-down the real story, for someone’s benefit. No match for Last Days of Disco or 54 (theatrical or director’s cut) Club Land might eventually be worth of stream when people start getting nostalgic for the late-aughts club scene. It opens today (5/29) in New York, at the AMC Empire (and launches on iTunes).

Karma Noir: 1 in the Gun

A drifter, a pre-nup and a Van Gogh are a dangerous combination, at least for one side of the potential love triangle. Appropriately, a jazz singer will help set the right mood. Obviously, there will also be a firearm of some sort in Rolfe Kanefsky’s 1 in the Gun (trailer here), available today on DVD.

It was no accident when down-and-out artist Mickey Lewis crashed his shopping cart into that of discontented trophy wife Katrina Webb. Before you can say Double Indemnity, she has recruited him to be her live-in house painter. Her jealous brute of a husband reluctantly agrees to the proposal, as long as no one touches his poorly guarded wife and Van Gogh while he is away on business. At least he will get the house painted for free out of the deal.

Naturally, Lewis is not who he represents himself to be, which is fair enough considering Webb is also playing him. Unfortunately, she is not inclined to play nice with Lewis when he attempts to appropriate her scheme. When negotiations fall through, Lewis takes it on the lam, but quickly detours into the eerie realm of the Lynchian where the nature of reality is increasingly dicey.

As the femme fatale, Katherine Randolph is pretty hot and believably manipulative. Though Gun probably would not cut it for late night Cinemax programming, there is enough sex and nudity to keep a horny teenager alert. There is also a pleasantly moody torch-jazz vocal from producer Esther M. Goodstein, appearing as Belle, a nightclub singer playing a room in the middle of nowhere.

Ironically, her ex-husband Vincent is played by a real jazz-standards vocalist, the great Robert Davi of Profiler and License to Kill fame. Having just released a Sinatra tribute CD, On the Road to Romance, Davi’s turn in Gun could be considered the dark side of Harold Arlen’s “One More for My Baby.” As usual, his presence adds an element of gravitas to the film. Unfortunately, Steven Man just cannot convincingly carry off a hardboiled noir lead. Frankly, he comes across a bit nebbish as Lewis, which hardly works in the context of the film.

Gun’s big twist borrows substantially from several films, but to cite them would give the game away. Still, Kanefsky ties together his karmic strands quite neatly. Though it was clearly shot on a shoestring, Gun still has enough to offer Davi fans and Maxim readers interested in Randolph to make for a rather entertaining video/streaming rental. It is now officially on-sale from MTI Home Video.