Wonderful performances by Ian Holm, Ron Leibman, Sheik Mahmud-Bey, and Richard Dreyfuss. If you're a student of great acting, this is a solid rental to enjoy several excellent "moments" from each. But as a film, the plot is beyond formulaic and predictable. The big reveal is presaged in the first act, in the courtroom, it just becomes a question of how they get there. Garcia's romantic interest is laugh-out-loud bad: felt like 60 seconds from meeting to dinner to sex to marriage talk. What's the rush, Sidney? And there's no real climax or ending. Credits roll - big shrug.
Back to the acting. Andy Garcia mostly sleepwalks through this one, mumbling his lines, other than an explosive moment with his dad's partner played by James Gandolfini. Ian Holm makes us ask the question again: why do great British actors play Americans better than American actors? He is completely believable as a lifelong New Yorker. Dreyfuss does well to moderate his trademark intensity to believable levels. Ron Leibman is funny and fantastic and makes me wish we'd seen a lot more of him in more films. Mahmud-Bey gives a mesmerizing subtle performance in the courtroom, just barely smirking as García needles him till he suddenly explodes.
Back to the acting. Andy Garcia mostly sleepwalks through this one, mumbling his lines, other than an explosive moment with his dad's partner played by James Gandolfini. Ian Holm makes us ask the question again: why do great British actors play Americans better than American actors? He is completely believable as a lifelong New Yorker. Dreyfuss does well to moderate his trademark intensity to believable levels. Ron Leibman is funny and fantastic and makes me wish we'd seen a lot more of him in more films. Mahmud-Bey gives a mesmerizing subtle performance in the courtroom, just barely smirking as García needles him till he suddenly explodes.