Powerful

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Film Perfection

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

"Ash Wednesday" is a 2002 film written, directed by, and starring Ed Burns. The story concerns one day, Ash Wednesday, and the events that happen on that day to two Irish-American brothers, Francis (Burns) and Sean (Elijah Wood). Three years earlier, Sean, while tending bar, overheard two thugs plan to kill Francis over money he owed, so Sean took them out. In order to keep him from being killed, Francis, a neighborhood priest, and a mobster fake Sean's death while he goes to Texas to hide out. Unfortunately, on the evening before this particular Ash Wednesday, Sean, who has returned to his brother's apartment, decides to go to a neighborhood bar for a drink. There he's spotted by several people, including an ex-girlfriend of Francis' who wants to get even with Sean's brother for dumping her.In the Catholic church and in several other religions, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the period of time preceding Easter. People go to church and receive a cross in ashes on their forehead to remind them of death, of the sorrow they should feel for their sins, and of the necessity of changing their lives. Normally during Lent people make some sort of sacrifice. Francis, who with his father was a hit man, is surrounded by death and under constant threat of it. The sacrifice he makes is somewhat drastic.This was an interesting movie with some good performances, particularly by Burns. The Irish atmosphere, with the dimly lit bar, the beer-drinking, the Catholocism, and the sense of family, is right on. Elijah Wood, however, is absurd casting. He is too childlike and seems terribly out of place.My problem with this film is that it's based on a ridiculous premise. Why, when you know you're supposed to be dead in order to risk being killed, would you after only 3 years walk into a neighborhood bar and have a drink? I can understand coming back and contacting your family - from somewhere else - and going out for a drink in another area. But the plot for me is built on a moronic idea that this guy was in his brother's apartment above the bar - dangerous enough - and then just for the helluva it went out. I just didn't buy it.This is a dark film about sad people with sad lives. Much of what happened on Ash Wednesday could have been avoided if Sean had just stayed hidden. Certainly the script could have been written to make the plot more believable, to in a sense force Sean to return - finding out he had a child, learning his wife was sick, his mother was dying, whatever. Given the way it was done, the film did not work for me. I don't recommend it unless you want to be depressed and frustrated.

Edward Burns has done it again. This movie is so intricate in the plot you realize something new every time you watch it. Everything that is done is almost like a mirage of something else, it all means what it says and yet volumes more! The acting is mediocre, I do have to say that I've seen much better performances from all actors involved. But look past the acting, get into the story, the passion, the love between brother, the good and the evil of all situations. The photography in this movie is amazing. The usage of wide angle shots adds so much to the mood of this movie. Spend one time while watching this movie just to notice the complexity of the simple shots. And while your paying attention to the picture, absorb yourself in the music. You will be amazed!

Long, dull film with Edward Burns trying to go straight in 1980s Hell's Kitchen. He seems to be caught between the Church and two rival "mafia" families. To make matters worse, his brother (Elijah Wood) is supposed dead after killing three men even thought his bitter former girlfriend (Julie Hale) claims to have seen him in a local bar. To make things even more complicated he's had an affair with the brother's wife (Rosario Dawson). Of course Wood has been hiding in Texas but is such an idiot he comes back to New York and immediately hits the bars, thus starting a whole new round of killings.The film has no life at all despite a good music score. Endless meaningless scenes of people walking in and out of doors, up and down stairs, and loving shots of local architecture just drag this out beyond endurance. And while the Burns character might have been interested as a conflicted "hero," the other characters are so unlikable and stupid it's hard to stick with this one. Wood gives an atrocious performance and is never believable for a minute. Dawson, Hale, Oliver Platt, James Handy, Malachy McCourt, and others are OK but it's not enough. The murky interiors, ridiculous dialog, and bad acting make this the worst of Burns' film efforts. And the ending is an anticlimax because the audience has long since departed.

This was a great movie....it warmed the cockles of my heart, and even the sub-cockles. I think those were cockles anyway. Edward Burns has not turned in a performance like this since Edward Scissorhands. A disgruntled ex, Irish guys drinking during the day, the cold streets of Hells Kitchen, a Bimbo in Brookylyn, Itiallians with an Axe to grind and plastic on their couches, a bastard child, and a ending with more of a twist than Chubby Checker. It had all the elements of classic, so treat yourself to a 6" Turkey and Cheese from Subway, a Diet Dr.Pepper and enjoy this magical mystery ride that will delight your senses and captivate your soul. Eat Fresh.