Clover
Starring: Jon Abrahams, Mark Webber, Nicole Elizabeth Berger, Erika Christensen, Julia Jones, Jessica Szohr, Chazz Palminteri, Ron Perlman, Jake Weber, Michael Godere
Director: Jon Abrahams
After losing a lot of money at blackjack, money that they borrowed from local gangster Tony (Chazz Palminteri), brothers and screw-ups Jackie (Mark Webber) and Mickey (Jon Abrahams) find themselves in a life or death situation: either pay back Tony or repay their debt with their lives. Tony gives the brothers one last chance, sending them on a house call with his son Joey (Michael Godere) to collect a debt. Joey instead wants them to kill someone, something they are unable to go through with. Joey kills the man but it’s witnessed by the man’s daughter Clover (Nicole Elizabeth Berger), who kills Joey. Forced to go on the run and look for help from people they can trust, like Mickey's ex Angie (Jessica Szohr) or their insane and paranoid friend Terry (Jake Weber), the brothers and Clover must evade a vengeance seeking Tony, who has hired contract killers Gertie (Erika Christensen) and Virginia (Julia Jones) to find them. As the bodies pile up, will the brothers and Clover survive their predicament?
This is an odd little film. The script is better than I was expecting but it has a hard time balancing tone. Guy Ritchie made a career for himself out of gangster comedies but director Jon Abrahams, who also costars, is not Ritchie. One has to think that in more capable hands, this film really could have clicked. While this could have been a fun and funny gangster romp, instead we are treated to a film that only works in fits and spurts.
The quality of the film isn't great, with everything looking very amateur and lacking the polish of most feature films. The production must have used all its money on its cast because it shows everywhere else. This honestly wouldn't have been as much of an issue if the story ever veered into unexpected territory. With the exception of a very late in the game twist, you can see the betrayals and twists coming from a mile away and it robs the film of any tension. The film also can't decide if it wants to be a comedy or not, with odd humorous beats or offbeat characters sprinkled in between the violence. There is an admittedly cool jazzy theme that accompanies the film but this is one of the few things I did like about it.
Webber and Abrahams are good as the fast talking and somewhat dimwitted brothers, but wow are they annoying. Their constant bickering becomes very obnoxious and becomes grating after only a few minutes. I kept wondering, if they disliked each other so much why did they even run a bar together? I understand that brothers fight but they do so for the entire film and makes it very hard to root for them. The saving graces of the film are Chazz Palminteri and the married hitwomen couple of Erika Christensen and Julia Jones. Palminteri can play this type of role in his sleep, which he is very much doing here, but it's still very convincing. Christensen and Jones don't enter the film until the halfway point to bring some much needed fun and have a much more interesting backstory that should have been explored more. I could have watched a whole film featuring their characters. Also, those looking for a showdown between Ron Perlman and Chazz Palminteri will be very disappointed. They never share a scene together, with Perlman relegated to a cameo at the very beginning.
There are definitely worse ways to spend a few hours but there are definitely better.
Grade: C-
Clover is available on iTunes VOD.