On F List of Movie Reviews
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Fingers (1978)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
11/17
11/17:
It's not often that Harvey Keitel has a lead role, and Fingers is one of the rare ones in his oeuvre and is
surprisingly good.
A New York hoodlum neo-noir in its own right with lowlife characters, it's about a talented but nutty
pianist with a short fuse who carries some sort of a venereal disease and has an explosive sexually pent-up anger
that's used as a way to get even with women.
Played by Michael V. Gazzo who's famous as Frankie Pentangeli in The Godfather Part II, the mob father, running his own
loan sharking operation, has a strong influence over the son who collects debts on the side and beats up guys if they don't
pay on time.
If there's a shocking and unexpected moment, it's the appearance of Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns running back legend,
who's engaged in a threesome kiss scene with two white women. Speaking of The Godfather, the pizzeria owner is Lenny
Montana who played Luca Brasi, having slept with the "fishes" as indicated by the Sicilian message.
All in all, if I felt disappointed by Mean Streets, Fingers more than makes up for it.