A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Blistering performances.

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971) ** (out of 4)Weak adaptation of the Jimmy Breslin novel (adapted by Waldo Salt) about a Mafia family (led by Jerry Orbach) who try to take out a rival crime boss but every time they get close to killing him something goes wrong. I haven't read the novel that this film is based on but I've heard it's actually quite funny. With that said, clearly something didn't come over from the page to the screen and I think a lot of the blame has to go to director James Goldstone. The entire movie has such a serious tone that you're often having to remind yourself that you're watching a comedy because the film just needs to loosen up and let the cast do their job. For the life of me I couldn't understand why the comic moments weren't handled better and there are several scenes that should have been so much funnier. One example is when a couple guys are chasing a man they want to kill but they get to some dirty water and they don't want to mess up their expensive shoes. Flat. Another sequence happens when we learn that Mafia leaders send their wives out to start the car each morning just in case there's a bomb. Flat. The strange thing is that a love story breaks out between Orbach's daughter (Leigh Taylor- Young) and a guy named Mario (Robert DeNiro). This love story is actually the best thing about the film and I wondered if perhaps the two actors were so good that they just kept building up more scenes around them. Considering how far DeNiro's name is in the credits and the fact that he's got perhaps the biggest role tells you something. Both of them are quite good together and it's fun seeing a young DeNiro looking exactly like he did a few years later in MEAN STREETS only here he's nice. Orbach is good in his role as is Jo Van Fleet, Burt Young and Herve Villechaize who would appear in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN in a couple years. THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT is certainly a complete misfire in terms of a comedy but fans of DeNiro might want to check it out. It's also worth noting that his role was originally going to be played by Al Pacino but he had to back-out once Paramount agreed to let him have the part of Michael in THE GODFATHER.

This is one of those classics. Not only for the first starring role for Robert De Niro but also its a comedy that is lighthearted and funny. De Niro does a good job as Mario (with a well done Italian accent) as does the late and great Jerry Orbach as Kid Sally the hood who wants to be the boss but keep having it fall from his hands. Lionel Sander (from Hart to Hart fame) does well as Baccala, the main gangster that Kid Sally is trying to take over. I found this hilarious fairly slapstick in some parts but also some strong performances of a film of this calibre. It reminded me for the old 1920's silent films as some of it you could have watched with no speaking at all and you'd still understand what was going on. There are some great scenes with Orbach and his Mama which had me laughing a lot and there were some touching scenes to between Mario and Kid Sally's kid sister. It's one to be watched and not missed if you want to see De Niro and how he started before the greats like Mean Streets, Raging Bull and Goodfellas.

I went to see this movie with my mother when it first came out. Now I am waiting for this to come out on DVD because it is one of the few movies that I want to own. When we went to see it in 1971 I laughed so hard I thought I might either pee on myself or vomit. I'd never seen anything so funny…or so familiar. I'm sure that it helped that the action took place primarily in my own neighborhood in Brooklyn, but I believe this movie has something for everyone. The humor didn't seem subtle to me at the time but in light of the brainless fare that has become so popular this movie does require that you actually pay attention from beginning to end. If you get nothing else out of it, the realization that it's not possible to housebreak a lion is worth the price of admission. That and the valuable lessons about car bombs, but to talk about that would require a spoiler alert.

"Comedy" about two warring Mafia gangs in Brooklyn.Purportedly the original book is hilarious and this movie has a great cast--but something went wrong. The jokes aren't very funny and the cast just seems to be unable to put across the punchlines. Flat direction doesn't help either.I'm only giving it a 3 for Leigh-Taylor Young and Robert DeNiro (who are both very good and play a very appealing couple) and Jo Van Fleet who has the movie's only funny lines in a very broad, over the top, amusing manner.But, all in all, this really isn't worth seeing.