Five Corners

Five Corners is a socially relevant film with a unique visual style and a sense of humor. the cast is superb. Robbins, Foster and Turturro give hints as to what they would go on to accomplish as their careers grew. Todd Graff is also awesome but seems to be having better luck as a screenwriter and producer. The two females who play the glue sniffers are hilarious in roles that could have easily be unsympathetic. The two mothers (Chalfant and Gregorios) carry their weight in smaller but no less significant roles. The two cops are straight out of the old crime dramas of the 1940's and 50's. There is also a good sense of 'place' in the film. I got a genuine feel for the neighborhood where these characters dwelt. I have also had the pleasure of being directed by Tony Bill in a made for T.V. movie, A Chance of Snow. He's a professional. I wish that he'd do more along the lines of Five Corners.

Not worth going out of your way to see, but worth keeping on if it comes on on TV. Will provide mild pleasure to fans of Jodie Foster, Tim Robbins, and John Turturro (I enjoy all three). It would be interesting to watch this back-to-back with "Barton Fink", in which Turturro plays a polar opposite character. The only other thing I have to say is that the score of this movie is one of the worst I've ever heard. I hadn't heard of composer James Newton Howard when I saw this, so I'm amazed he went on to respectable and (to my remembrance) perfectly well-scored films like "Pretty Woman", "My Girl", "Glengarry Glen Ross", "The Sixth Sense", and "Dinosaur". His score in this film is so melodramatic, so overstated, so overly "hit-happy" (in the sense of hitting marks), and so cheesily realized, I'm amazed Howard wasn't relegated to scoring cheeseball B-flicks.

"Five Corners" showcases some good performances by a decent cast and has little else to offer. Crisscrossing subplots are pedestrian and muddle the clockworks of this somewhat quirky noirish drama about a bunch of peculiar people from a neighborhood in the Bronx known as "Five Corners". Obviously scripted, probably because it was written by a playwright, "FC" comes off like a theatrical production as it slowly gathers momentum with a payoff which is insufficient and too late. Okay for those interested in watching actors ply their craft.

Sorry, but I found this film, even with top notch actors, a bad taste film. Surprised Tony Bill directed this. There was no compassion for any of the characters. Everyone seemd to be a loser. Not one role seemd to have any conviction. They all seemd to be vacant and lost in a maze of self destruction. John Turturro, at least was thorough in his evil ways. But the Robbins character seemed poorly written and sadly the actor didn't find any salvation. The use of animals being beaten and killed, didn't please this viewer. Any more than throwing people off roofs. Violence was the theme and helplessness the winner. Not one character had my interest. In fact, they made me angry. It was a shame to see Miss Foster in this. Up to this film I had always liked her performances. Whatever possessed her to do this clinker? Not recommended for viewing, even on the tube.

Some interesting performances from people who went on to bigger and better things. Turturro in particular gives a controlled turn to a role that could easily have been over the top. Many discontinuities mar the script, and there are plot elements which seem to come out of nowhere. But overall it is a movie worth seeing when the cupboard is bare.

Turturro plays a brutal psycho released from prison, and Foster plays the woman in peril. Neither is really pressed hard here, therefore. Robbins plays a guy who protected Foster before, but who is volunteering to go south to help the rights of blacks in the south, being inspired by Martin Luther King (this being a period drama). Foster also has a boyfriend who was crippled by Turturro when she was attacked. Turturro has a weird gift for Foster, and there's a teacher who inexplicably gets shot by an arrow. Meanwhile, there's a pair of guys who are paid to look after two glue-sniffing. And there's a pair of cops and so on... A strange drama with moments of comedy that don't really fit in comfortably. Seems more like an awkward play awkwardly made into a film.

The kind of film that doesn't get made anymore in Hollywood. Original story, great atmosphere, wonderful acting. A somewhat quirky but still powerful human drama. Somehow, everything just fits in this film. Given the cast, it's hard to believe it is so little known. One to be re-discovered (hopefully). 8 stars out of 10. In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites: imdb.com/list/ls070242495