Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. It stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Balk, among others. The film is set in 1958 Brooklyn, New York City. Martin Scorsese was originally the executive producer (as a favor to Paul Kimatian), but he eventually removed his name from this film. It was the final film of cinematographer John A. Alonzo before his death in 2001.

As the tagline states, there is little firearm violence; most of the fighting is hand-to-hand, in keeping with the 1958 setting.

Plot

Leon (Stephen Dorff) and Bobby (Brad Renfro) are brothers and members of the Deuces, a Brooklyn street gang. Ever since the death of their other brother Alphonse "Allie Boy" from a drug overdose at the hands of Marco (Norman Reedus), they keep drugs off their block. This puts them in opposition to the Vipers, another local gang headed by Marco, who want to sell drugs in the neighborhood. On the eve of Marco's return from a three-year stint in prison, a gang war seems imminent. Marco plans revenge against Leon, whom he believes ratted him out to the police.

Bobby falls for a new girl who moves in across the street, Annie (Fairuza Balk), the younger sister of Jimmy "Pockets", a Vipers member and heroin dealer. Their attraction for each other complicates the gang rivalry. Marco attacks the block and Bobby before beating and raping Betsy (Leon's girlfriend) in order to push him over the edge. After a series of skirmishes between the Vipers and Deuces, neighborhood Mafioso Fritzy (Matt Dillon) orders Leon and Marco to make amends hours before the climactic rumble (he previously declined Marco's request to kill Leon). Leon disobeys this order in a fight at the docks where Marco is killed along with Jimmy Pockets, leaving Bobby and Annie free to take her mother to Los Angeles. Leon is shot and killed by one of Fritzy's men in retaliation for ignoring his orders. Before leaving, Bobby drops a wheelbarrow full of cinder blocks on Fritzy's car, presumably killing him.

Cast

• Stephen Dorff as Leon
• Brad Renfro as Bobby
• Fairuza Balk as Annie
• Vincent Pastore as Father Aldo
• Frankie Muniz as Scooch
• Balthazar Getty as Jimmy "Pockets"
• Matt Dillon as Fritzy
• Norman Reedus as Marco
• Max Perlich as Freddie
• Drea de Matteo as Betsy
• Louis Lombardi as Philly Babe
• Deborah Harry as Wendy
• James Franco as Tino Verona
• Josh Leonard as Punchy
• Johnny Knoxville as Vinnie Fish
• George Georgiadis as Willie
• Jackie Tohn as Mary Ann

Reception

The film received negative reviews and currently holds a 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[1]

References

External links

• Official website
• Deuces Wild on IMDb
• Deuces Wild at AllMovie
• Deuces Wild at Box Office Mojo
• Deuces Wild at Rotten Tomatoes