State of Grace – Review

Nick Richardson (Turturro) meets Terry Noonan (Penn) under a bridge in New York City, giving him a sack of guns. Later that night, Terry and a pal DeMarco are making a drug deal in a dark alleyway. Up comes Nick and his compatriot, showing off the goods. But… Nick decides that this is a double cross, and threatens Terry. Terry responds by blasting Nick and his pal away before making an escape with DeMarco, and hitting up the elevated train to get away.

Now, Terry has drugs and money and street credit. He hooks up with his old pal Jackie Flannery (Oldman) who is part of Hell’s Kitchen’s Irish mafia. Jackie does not play around, and is known for flying off the handle. His big brother Frank Flannery (Harris) runs the mob, and is a bit more composed, as he’s the boss. All seems to be going well now that Terry is back in town.

Another in the Flannery family is Kate (Wright), who remembers Terry from back in the day, as they used to date. She stays relatively clear of the family business, but takes some cash from Jackie at times. She despises violence and the usual attitude that comes with thug-type men, but has a soft spot for Terry. Another of Terry’s old pals is Stevie McGuire (Reilly), a harmless compulsive gambler who is still hustling on the streets. Finally, it seems that Terry is settling back into his old hood.

But… drama sticks up its head, as Joe Borelli (Viterelli) gives orders to the entire area’s hoodlums, including the Flannery family. Jackie doesn’t like his brother Frank playing along with this guy, and wants their territory to be fully in their hands. Jackie also doesn’t like rich yuppie real estate developers coming in and ruining the neighborhoods, jacking up costs and pricing out his people.

As Jackie goes further and further into bonkers territory, it is all Terry can do to help the Flannery family, keep Jackie in line, reconnect with Kate, and make a name for himself. Yet… Terry is also hiding something from all of them. Will this put him into even more danger?!

State of Grace is an overlooked crime saga featuring some excellent characters which likely attracted the strong cast to the roles. Oldman shines as usual, letting his crazy show through, and Penn gets to do plenty himself balancing a few aspects of his main role. The other veterans do their typical great jobs, which fleshes out even some of the smaller characters, like the Flannery enforcer Nicholson (Call).

While the story has plenty of elements from other crime tales, this one is certainly good enough to give it a watch. It runs a tad long, but is never boring. The performances are sound, the script is pretty good, and the director kept it all in line well. State of Grace still plays well today, and is a good companion piece to other 80s and 90s gangster flicks.