Highly watchable but also
underdeveloped and unoriginal, Crazy Joe
is one of myriad ultraviolent gangster films released in the wake of The Godfather (1971). Starring the
powerful actor Peter Boyle as real-life New York City mobster Joey Gallo, the
picture was produced by trash titan Dino De Laurentiis, and it boasts not only
an eclectic cast of familiar ’70s faces but also a fast-moving storyline filled
with betrayals, murders, robbery, and even a spectacular suicide. Furthermore,
thanks to the lively script by Lewis John Carlino, the picture has flashes of
intellectualism and style. The picture doesn’t go anywhere surprising, but
there’s some vivid scenery along the way.
Viewers first meet Joe (Boyle)
leading his gang of thugs through an afternoon of hanging out and an evening of
committing a brazen hit in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Together, these
two sequences effectively situate Joe as a character for whom death is as
normal as grabbing a quick bite. Upon reporting the hit to his boss, Falco
(Luther Adler), Joe is incensed to discover he won’t earn a bonus. Joe’s older
brother, Richie (Rip Torn), intervenes before the argument escalates, but the
seeds of a war have been planted. Thus, over the course of many years, Joe splits
from Falco and later has an even bloodier battle with Falco’s successor,
Vittorio (Eli Wallach). Joe’s ambition, as well as his appetite for danger,
cause friction with Richie and with Joe’s wife, Anne (Paula Prentiss), even as
Joe expands his operation by hiring African-American thugs controlled by Willy
(Fred Williamson), whom Joe meets during a prison stint.
Excepting the material
with Prentiss’ character, which is so anemic that it should have been
jettisoned entirely, most of what happens in Crazy Joe is entertaining and lurid. Joe grandstands in front of
powerful men. Joe leads his crew on daring criminal adventures. Joe studies philosophy
in prison, thereby arriving at high-minded justifications (“The criminal is
really just another existentialist expression”). Joe reveals hidden layers of
civic-mindedness and decency by saving kids from a burning building. Boyle
sinks his teeth into all of this material, portraying Joe as a being of pure
id, relying on bravery and instinct even though restraint and strategy would
ensure a longer life.
Yet Boyle’s performance is strangely one-dimensional, as
if he can’t figure out how to decelerate for intimate scenes, and that gives
the picture a certain degree of monotony. That’s why it helps to have such
capable actors as Torn, Wallach, and Williamson bolstering the storytelling.
Additionally, it’s fun to spot players including Charles Cioffi, Michael V.
Gazzo, Hervé Villechaize, and Henry Winkler in secondary roles. As for the
technical execution of the piece, which was handled by an international crew
under the helm of director Carlo Lizzani, Crazy
Joe is competently shot and effectively paced, allowing the focus to remain
on the lively acting and the turbulent storyline.
Crazy Joe:
FUNKY
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