The Neighborhood (2017)
Starring: Frank D'Angelo, Danny Aiello, Francesco Antonio, Art Hindle, Margot Kidder, Tony Nardi, Michael Paré, Giancarlo Giannini, John Ashton, Armand Assante, Keisha Augustin, Daniel Baldwin, Leslie Easterbrook, Burt Young and Laurie Fortier
Director: Frank D'Angelo
Run time: 107 mins
Rating: Five stars
THIS is the sixth feature film outing from Italian-Canadian filmmaker, Frank D'Angelo, and is a beutiful cinematic exploration of the world of street gangs, family dynamics and the price of loyalty.
Street-gang leader Angelo Donatello (Frank D'Angelo) runs a small-time operation in the same area as Mafia kingpin Gianluca Moretti (Giancarlo Giannini). When he refuses to join Moretti's plan to distribute heroin in their neighbourhood, Angelo and his gang find themselves at war with the mob and battling for control of their territory.
Once again, D'Angelo manages to wear a multitude of hats without compromising his craft. This is stylish and slick, with a lot of 'mob' banter and sharp one-liners that must surely be ad-libbed.
If you enjoy playing the 'I know that face' game, this one is a must-see for that alone. D'Angelo clearly has an eye for a winning formula and it's nice to see familair faces from his previous movies appear in this one - even if it is just a one-scene cameo.
The direction is seamless in this crime drama, written and produced by D'Angelo's In Your Ear Productions company. It's also another winner in the soundrack department, with some classic beats and smooth tracks written and performed by D'Angelo.
(left to right: Tony Nardi, Giancarlo Giannini, Frank D'Angelo. Picture credit: Frank D'Angelo)
It appears there is no end to this maverick's creativity, nor his ability to draw together a cast of such notable names - including a great performance from a young actor by the name of Francesco Antonio.
(Francesco Antonio. Picture credit: Frank D'Angelo)
The 23-year-old York University Acting Conservatory graduate lights up the screen with his steely gaze and chiselled good looks in his role as the young Donatello.
Antionio is also a filmmaker and musician and his debut short film, Addiction, is raking up awards and nominations in almost every film festival it enters.
Addiction is the story of a young man with a crippling addiction who falls in love, hoping that love is enough. However, his new lady love has doubts about his ability to change and a deciosn she makes, changes everything.
Addiction music video (Warning: This music video contains graphic content)
The Neighborhood is available On Demand at iTunes, Google Play Store, Amazon and at the In Your Ear Productions website HERE.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article