Ok, it's a rumble movie. It's like LORDS OF FLATBUSH with half the soul. It's WEST SIDE STORY without the song and dance. It's THE OUTSIDERS without the literary writing. Sure, it's got a boatload of talented young faces, some already established, most semi-established when this released. But the script? Ugh. It's juvenile, simplistic, one-dimensional, mindlessly violent (though not graphic); something lifted from a 1960 "JD" message flick, but with better production values, including color. I gave it a six out of pity and because I like Stephen Dorff, but it deserves a five. And Brad Renfro? How did so many filmmakers see potential in HIM before he died not long after this? Bottomline: this is not an awful movie. It's not painful to watch. But it's a youth film that belongs in the 80s, not in 2003. And it doesn't deserve the actors it cast. From the list of actors, I'd guess this was a hot property when it was getting assembled, but subsequently, the writers and director let half the air out of its balloon and repackaged GREASE. Oh, and Norman Reedus? A disheartening case of one-note-johnny overacting in this particular effort. I gotta suspect that the director let the cast down with mediocre, uninspired directions to the actors.

Deuces Wild isn't a great flick, and not even a really good one at that. It's an interesting, eclectic effort though, one that's maybe too hectic and unfocused for its own good. It's cobbled together from other similar stories like The Outsiders, The Warriors and the like, and feels too committed to derivative motions to come up with anything unique and all it's own. Yet still, the cast alone and the antics they get up to, separated from plot cohesion and an overall view, are enough for a casual glance. It concerns an New York street gang called the Deuces, running amok in the streets and causing all kinds of trouble with rival hoods, powerful neighborhood bosses and the ever corrupt legions of New York's finest. Leon (Stephen Dorff) and Bobby (Brad Renfro) run the Deuces and are determined to keep drugs off their turf, while a rival gang called the Vipers wants to flood the streets. Bobby takes up with the sister (Fairuza Balk) of a Viper, and the gang also deals with Fritzy (a laid back Matt Dillon) a senior executive in the crime underworld. The plot is a rambling mess with way too many characters running about inanely, some of them played by James Franco, Drea DeMatteo, Vincent Pastore, Deborah Harry, Louis Lombardi, Johnny Knoxville, Balthazar Getty and Malcolm in the middle. The performances ate all pretty forgettable except for Norman Reedus as Marco, a positively evil rival gang member with bloodlust for the Deuces. He doesn't show up until well into the film, but injects it with some much needed virile menace by staring down and stabbing everyone he can. Like I said it ain't the best movie, but the cast will keep your attention and there's a few moments of tension to keep it going.

"In the sweltering summer of 1958, the Deuces, a gang of Brooklyn toughs, find their turf threatened when the leader of a rival gang, the Vipers, is released from prison. Leon (Stephen Dorff), the Deuces' leader, tries to guide his boys through bloody brawls to keep the Vipers out. But when his brother (Brad Renfro) falls into a sultry - and dangerous - relationship with Annie (Fairuza Balk), the sister of a Viper, and his own girlfriend is brutally attacked, Leon and his gang are plunged into an all-out war to save his brother, his girl - and his neighborhood!" according to the DVD sleeve description. This is definitely no "Basketball Diaries".Think of it as "West Side Story" getting hit over the head with baseball bats and steel pipes, stickball having left Brooklyn with the Dodgers. "Deuces Wild" has some cool Hollywood sets, 1950s cars and soundtrack songs; and, much of it is nicely photographed by John A. Alonzo. The story and direction never get beyond these strengths, which enables the film to peak during its opening minutes, and proceed downhill. The cast looks good when you read the credits, but translates into an ageing, flabby mess of phony pompadours, blood, and Brylcreem… and one fright wig. A sense of sadness and regret permeates the production.*** Deuces Wild (5/3/02) Scott Kalvert ~ Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, Fairuza Balk, Frankie Muniz

It's the summer of '58 and a Brooklyn neighbourhood becomes a battlefield for two street gangs to settle old scores. Leon (Stephen Dorff) and Bobby (Brad Renfro) formed the Deuces after their little brother died from a hot dose of heroin,and vowed never to let the drug hit their streets again.The lethal dose was supplied by the Vipers' leader Marco (Norman Reedus) who after three years' prison time, comes back to the neighbourhood to seek vengeance and get the powerful backing of mob boss Fritzy (Matt Dillon)to sell heroin on the streets.Marco believes it was Leon who snitched to the police and the violence begins with a bloody fight in the park. Fritzy warns the hoodlums that no one gets hurt without his say so, but the hatred between the two gangs is deep and Marco attacking Leon's girlfriend (Drea de Matteo) forces the latter to take the Deuces into a battle they might not walk away from.Kalvert plays safe with a location seen in many stories from a New York neighbourhood, with greased hair youths hanging outside pizzerias and the lido, talking about baseball and other anecdotes of their generation. This type of film always has me humming, "Lollipop, lollipop…" by the Chordettes, but despite some jazzed up MTV editing and library stock music to build up action scenes, you are drawn in to a story that teenage boys should love.Dorff performs without any sign of an inflated ego and is superb as the street tough stuck between church and protecting his block. His fiery temper and flashes of violence are fuelled by the guilt he feels for his deceased brother. He's haunted by flashbacks of finding his corpse and his mother's anguish at seeing him walk through the streets cradling his lifeless body.The tension between the gangs is heightened when Bobby starts dating Annie (Fairuza Balk), the sister of a Viper. This relationship borders on West Side Story (1961) territory, but both actors possess the ability not to deliver their declaration of passion like a soppy love poem. Renfro convinces as the impulsive younger brother wanting to get out of Leon's shadow and wage war against the Vipers. He is the narrator of the story, and therefore should be the lead actor, but the hero role is written for Leon and Renfro continually struggles to outshine the older actor.Although Deuces doesn't have the boast of Robert De Niro directing, it is superior to A Bronx Tale (1993), in that it concentrates on the youths at war, rather than a portrayal of the neighbourhood wiseguys.Dillon became famous as the youth with a tortured soul but shows little interest in offering his experience to the new generation of urban tales; seemingly stuck in auto-pilot as the pill-popping Mafioso whose greed leaves Leon staring death in the face.Cashing in on the popularity of The Sopranos (1999) was a clever move, with Drea de Matteo as the standout performer from the heavily represented cast. While many of the actors in this film were watching their careers slide further away from the top level of American cinema; de Matteo further evidenced her progression from television to a respected film actress.The final act sees the climatic fight between the Deuces and the Vipers,with the advantage continually changing, as double crosses and last minute rescues leaves you guessing who's going to come out on top. Life in a street gang rarely ends happily and the parting of the ways is inevitable for the Deuces.If you are still young enough to remember the thrills of teenage rivalry and like your films to mix good fight scenes with angst and passion, then you should sit back and reminisce about your adolescent fantasy as the cool gang leader who didn't take sh*t from no one.