If this were a bid at crossover stardom à la Jackie Chan, he's failed miserably. Heck, if this were intended to be a comedy, he's failed miserably.
The flimsy plot has Harvey Keitel — why, Harvey, why? — as a Mafia leader planning on retirement. While his many underlings want the job, he's going to give it the son he's never meant: Younggu (Shim), the product of knocking up some woman during the Korean War.
Younggu (that's pronounced "young goo," as if that were a joke in itself), is a poorly dressed, ill-mannered, piggish, snoring, clueless buffoon with entirely limited English skills and even fewer social skills. He's never seen a vacuum cleaner! He can't pick up a hat! He says "quiche" instead of "capiche"! He thinks a live bomb is a bocce ball! He puts ketchup on pizza!
That's as clever as it gets, folks. Or maybe this is: Through his own incompetency, he accidentally invents the miniskirt and the Big Mac. Either way, you lose.
Stunningly awful, "The Last Godfather
" is as free of ideas as it is free of laughter. It's a waste of some talented people — OK, two talented people: Keitel and Jocelin Donahue ("The House of the Devil"), who has to play Younggu's love interest from a warring Mafia family. Kevin Smith regular Jason Mewes (Jay to Smith's Silent Bob) doesn't fall into that category; here, he looks like a "Dick Tracy" villain: one who should be named Hairpiece. —Rod Lott
The flimsy plot has Harvey Keitel — why, Harvey, why? — as a Mafia leader planning on retirement. While his many underlings want the job, he's going to give it the son he's never meant: Younggu (Shim), the product of knocking up some woman during the Korean War.
Younggu (that's pronounced "young goo," as if that were a joke in itself), is a poorly dressed, ill-mannered, piggish, snoring, clueless buffoon with entirely limited English skills and even fewer social skills. He's never seen a vacuum cleaner! He can't pick up a hat! He says "quiche" instead of "capiche"! He thinks a live bomb is a bocce ball! He puts ketchup on pizza!
That's as clever as it gets, folks. Or maybe this is: Through his own incompetency, he accidentally invents the miniskirt and the Big Mac. Either way, you lose.
Stunningly awful, "The Last Godfather
" is as free of ideas as it is free of laughter. It's a waste of some talented people — OK, two talented people: Keitel and Jocelin Donahue ("The House of the Devil"), who has to play Younggu's love interest from a warring Mafia family. Kevin Smith regular Jason Mewes (Jay to Smith's Silent Bob) doesn't fall into that category; here, he looks like a "Dick Tracy" villain: one who should be named Hairpiece. —Rod Lott
