Deuces Wild (2002)

Take West Side Story, remove the music, add excessive profanity and violence, and you'll get Deuces Wild. It's an overripe melodrama in which rival street gangs--in this case Deuces vs. Vipers in 1958 Brooklyn--inevitably clash in a deadly rumble, preceded by shameless scenery-chewing from nearly everyone involved. Stephen Dorff plays the head Deuce, agonizing over his older brother's drug overdose and leading a cast of rising stars and familiar faces including Brad Renfro as Dorff's hot-tempered kid brother, Norman Reedus as the vicious lead Viper, Fairuza Balk as Renfro's no-nonsense girlfriend, and Matt Dillon (uncredited) as the kingpin who introduces heroin to Dorff's drug-free turf. Balthazar Getty, Frankie Muniz, and James Franco are also in the cast, suggesting that director Scott Kalvert was hoping for an unforgettable ensemble. What he got instead was a stale story crowded with percolating posers, recommended only for those who've never seen the 1979 street-gang classic The Warriors. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

One of my gulity pleasures

I remeber going to see this movie in May of 2002. I wasn't in the mood to see the big budget Spider Man so I checked this one out. The film has a talented young cast in everyone from Brad Renfro to Johnny Knoxville.The fight scenes and cinematograpgy are all good and Scott Kalvert has made a film on par with his first and still classic The Basketball Diaries. I really thought after this the late and great Brad Renfro would go on to greater things but sadly he didn't.
April 1, 2008

A Full House where Dueces aren't wild...

Are the "Deuces" a true violent gang, or does MTV just portray them that way? As I sit here struggling to connect my words for this pathetic attempt of a "gang turned Shakespeare's tragedy" film involving the ever buff Stephen Dorff and the slowly decaying Brad Renfro. This is a story, not unlike others that we have seen done better, about violence, drug problems, and falling for the girl that you least expect. It is "Romeo & Juliet", fixed up like "West Side Story", with fights that would no doubtably see the award ranking at that year's MTV Movie Awards. I cannot say if that is what made this film at times unbearable to watch, or if it is what pulled me into watching it a second time to see what the director had to say about his actions. Either way, I made it through two viewings of "Deuces Wild" and before I hear usurped "gasps" from the peanut gallery, I must say, this is definitely not a film that get better with age.

Using whatever leftover table scraps "The Sopranos" wanted to throw, coupled with a storyline recycled from every Hollywood recreation of this genre, "Deuces Wild" begins haphazardly and continues along the trend for the next 96 minutes. Is it brother's vengeance? Is it due to rival gangs making sure that their territory is never advanced by the other? Is is because of money? Is it because of love? I mention these questions again because I believe these random unanswered questions, which lead into a convoluted violent ending, are what hurt the overall picture of "Deuces Wild". From the beginning, we do not know the true motives of our characters. Dorff, the obvious leader, seems more like the lover instead of the fighter, but when it is time to do what is just, he apparently turns into a machine with fists that could take down a passenger train. Renfro, the hard-boiled little brother, doesn't seem like the obvious choice to swoon the possible leader of the all-girl group. His second-grade reading and interpretation of the script, makes him seem more like muscle instead of brains. I believe that if Dorff would have taken control of Renfro's character and vice versa, perhaps a better film would have come from this conclusion, but alas, we were stuck with what was the final product. Balk, who plays Renfro's love interest, is annoying and void of emotion. Her true nature is never revealed, and it is up to us to realize that these two lovers happened to be at the right place at the right time, the action surrounding them is just static.

I have to continue with the characters for a bit more because they were the failing glue that could not keep this film stuck together. Norman Reedus, the weaselly-villain-esque character had angry eyes and an obsession with power ... why? I have no idea. He liked drugs and wanted to distribute, or did he just want to make trouble for Dorff and Renfro? This continues my theory that no true character development occurred, which dumbstruck this viewer from beginning to end. I don't want to repeat myself for Balthazar Getty's character of Jimmy Pockets. Again, nothing seemed set or hardened with these guys. They did what they want, whenever they wanted. That works in most gang films, but when empathy needs to be felt for someone, it is probably better not to just let the fists do the talking. Was that Johnny Knoxville in there as well? Nothing like James Franco playing the same character of James Dean for this role? This transformed into nothing more than pathetic over-use of similar moments. It was sad. It was recycled. It was unoriginal at best. It was a gangster film married to "West Side Story" for the fast-paced MTV generation.

For 96 minutes we were stuck with these characters, so I watched, hoping that perhaps the cinematography would take me to a far away land - perhaps the language would reintroduce me to the genre, or maybe the story would sweep me away. Well, I wanted something to distract me from the characters, but alas, it never happened. The story, as mentioned before, was recycled. The visions seemed like they belonged on stage instead of on screen. After listening to the audio commentary, the director seemed to agree as well since most of the budget couldn't take them to an actual location, but instead a sound stage in LA. The angles seemed short and the people seemed tight in every scene. I am surprised that we didn't seem cameras in every shot. I felt claustrophobic in every scene, even when the gang was fighting. I have to pause and laugh now, because the fight sequences were possibly the lightest element in the film. Does lightening have to spring into the scene just to make those known that the air has grown angry? Lightening and fight sequences, is it the match-up that we have been waiting for all of our cinematic life? In this film, the answered question is: yes.

Poor acting, poor cinematography, cheap dialog, why does this film rate so high among film watchers? Some claim that it is the darker side of "West Side Story", which I could argue against. There wasn't a dark undertone to this film at all. The choreography to the fight sequences made me laugh, the themes of which the characters drew themselves upon were simple, never quite the complex characters that we anticipated. There was no logic to this film, just remake followed by recycling, followed up by further cheapened cliche's that can be found in any other film of this genre. This is not "Goodfellas", so let us not try to make the comparison. Did this film accurately depict the era that it attempted to represent? To me, the answer is no. Well, I have officially become to bitter to continue this conversation. I wasn't happy, nor can I suggest this film to anyone with a straight face. Nothing was put together well, the voice of the film seemed amateur at best. Skip it - you will be happier!

Grade: ** out of ***** July 17, 2007

Deuces Wild doesnt have that much fight in it

Stephen Dorff (Blade, Entropy) stars as the leader of the gang called the Deuces and he was stricken years ago when one of his brothers died from an overdose that his enemy on the otherside of the street, the leader of the Vipers, played by Norman Reedus (Blade 2, Gossip) gave him. Now, Reedus springs out of prison and wants to take revenge on the Deuces starting a club on their side. Brad Renfro (The Jacket, Tart) plays the second older brother of Dorff who falls madly in love with a member of the Vipers sisters, played by Fairuza Balk (Almost Famous, The Craft) but his brother Dorff has his suspicions about her and doesnt want Renfro to be going out with her. Then things heat up as both gangs go head on in fights and brawls to see who comes out on top. Sometimes boring, nothing that can bring it up to be a good movie. Some of the acting is laughable and the editing, especially the fast motion/slow motion sprinkled into the fight scenes are really lame. Also starring Matt Dillon (Crash '05, The Outsiders) who is wasted here, Balthazar Getty (Lost Highway, Lord Of The Flies), Max Perlich(Blow, Drugstore Cowboy), James Franco (James Dean, Spider-Man 2) , Johnny Knoxille (Big Trouble, Dukes Of Hazzard), Frankie Muniz (Agent Cody Banks, Big Fat Liar), Deborah Harry (lead singer of Blondie) and Dre de Matteo (Assault On Precinct 13 '05). September 25, 2005

no more west side story comparisons,please!!

when i heard about DEUCES WILD back in late 1999 early 2000,i was elated at the prospect of there finally being another 50's/early 60's type of street gang melodrama on the horizon.
yet,of course,because of the 9/11 incident in new york,the a-holes in hollywood decided to push back its release for quite a while,so i had to be content with the occasional promo photo in random movie magazines.
finally the movie came out without much fanfare,alas it was also the 'spiderman' weekend,and also the innocuos 'lord of the rings' was in theatres as well that weekend,but luckilly that meant i was in the movie theatre with just myself,my girl and about ten other people.
i thought the movie was excellent,great costumes,great cars,great period music,great locations,good yet hammy acting,gorgeous leading ladies,stylized violent rumble scenes,cheezy yet touching overacted scenes between familys,decent period detail.
yet then the reviews started coming in,and everybody who had ever had freshmen english or drama class compared it annoyingly to west side story,a 1961 singing and dancing musical,when they should have made comparisons to another tho far superior 1961 gang film,john frankenhiemer's black and white opus,'the young savages',or even to photographer bruce davidson's late 50's photo essay,'brooklyn gang' or even the short comic story in the late 70's underground comic,'50's funnies',called,'turf',about a gang in the 50's fighting with another gang who wanted drugs in the neiborhood and who had mob backing and a character was even named marco.....awfully convenient dont you think?
anyways,while this movie was'nt as good as 'the young savages','lords of flatbush' or 'the wanderers',to name but a few,but it was a hundred times better than the wimpy 'west side story' could ever be.
i dont know if this review helps,but the leads in this film were really good,stephen dorf,brad renfro,drea dematteo,faruiza balk,matt dillon,normon reedus and james franco putting in good performances......also i liked the fact that they did,nt over saturate the film with to much music from the past,it was just the right amount,very good choices of songs by 'dion and the belmonts','jerry butler and the impressions','the valentines','dee clark' and a few others.
and of course,faruiza balk and drea dematteo,tho a little long in the tooth to be playing teenagers,looked absolutely scrumptiuos. February 21, 2005

A more intense version of West Side Story

Scott Kalvert did an outstanding job directing this movie and making the time period as realistic as possible. The similarity between this and Westside Story is the gang rivalry. In Westside Story, you have The Jets vs. The Sharks and in this movie you have The Deuces vs. The Vipers. I didn't see all of Westside Story though but it seems like its less intense than this movie. This movie has some Rebel Without A Cause as well but I didn't see that movie either. I compare this movie to Rebel Without A Cause because of the gang element and Stephen Dorff is The Jimmy Dean of this movie. Stephen Dorff does a great job as 'Leon', the noble yet violent leader of The Deuces. Brad Renfro also does a great job as Leon's younger brother Bobby. He is easily influenced by his brother's hatred towards The Vipers and his life-style is even more chaotic when he meets 'Annie', who is played by Fairuza Balk. Drea DeMateo was so so as 'Betsy', Norman Reedus does a great job as 'Marco', and Matt Dillion does a great job as 'Fritzy'. Overall, its a powerful and intense movie and a must see for movie fans. You'll be pleasantly surprised! November 27, 2004

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