Review of SON OF NO ONE - Loses control of its dirty cop drama via melodramatic performances.
The gritty love affair filmmaker Dito Montiel shows for New York City and especially his former stomping grounds in Queens in his third feature Son of No One follows in the footsteps of greats like John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese and goes as far back in cinema geekdom as Lionel Rogosin's 1957 underbelly classic On the Bowery.
Montiel has a way with the sidewalk lowlifes and petty thieves ignored by Hollywood's depictions of fantasy New York awash in luxury. In his corrupt cop tale Son of No One, the former Punk Rocker, sometimes journalist and author also shows talent for the type of male, toilet seat melodramas that show men screaming and crying just as loud as any kitchen sink women.
Realistic, New York grit may be the surface level detail that connects Montiel's Son of No One with Scorsese's Mean Streets but it's Montiel's embrace for operatic melodrama that makes him a true son of Scorsese.
Like Scorsese, Montiel also reaches too far dramatically and often ends up with formulaic storytelling too shrill for its own good. Son of No One is flawed but Montiel's enthusiasm for the film's blue- collar people and rundown places make it worth watching.
Jonathan White (Channing Tatum) is a young New York cop assigned to patrol his childhood neighborhood in Queens. New information involving an unsolved murder of two boys brings back a flood of bad memories for White as well as new friction with veterans on the police force (Al Pacino and Ray Liotta).
White quickly finds himself in the middle of a police cover up and gains a rare chance to make things right with a friend from the neighborhood (Tracy Morgan).
Channing Tatum looks good in uniform and arguably gives the most grounded performance in the movie. Tatum more than holds his own in scenes with Al Pacino and Ray Liotta but fails to lift the film aloft on his muscular shoulders.
Liotta is easygoing as a New York cop caught in the conspiracy. Liotta fails to surprise in the scene's climactic moments but he's believable ever step of the way.
Al Pacino delivers so much gusto as the cop with a dark past that it's hard not to smile when he bounces into scenes. Pacino is unashamedly hammy, which means he understands the spirit of the movie.
Only 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan embraces the movie's melodramatic too tightly and the result is a shrieking performance that borders on parody.
Movies like Son of No One are supposed to be over-the-top (Who else thought of The Pope of Greenwich Village while watching the movie?) but Morgan makes everything silly.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Montiel's first movie, remains his most personal and his best effort; a story of his teenage years in Queens.
Telling a cop drama becomes an excuse for Montiel to ditch the documentary-inspired style of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints for flashy rooftop confrontations and sweeping camerawork.
Montiel fails to keep Son of No One grounded in key moments and the result is out-of-control melodrama that would even make Scorsese blush.
Distributor: Anchor Bay Films
Cast: Channing Tatum, Tracy Morgan, Katie Holmes, Ray Liotta, Juliette Binoche and Al Pacino
Screenwriter: Dito Montiel
Director: Dito Montiel
Editor: Jake Pushinsky
Composer: Jonathan Elias, David Wittman
Cinematography: Benoit Delhomme
Producers: Nu Image Films, Hannibal Pictures and Millennium Films Running Time: 95 minutes
Rating: Rated R
Release Date: Nov. 4, 2011 in select cities including NY, LA and Chicago