A great movie needs the writer, director and actors all to be very, very good. Wise Girls has all three.Acting is much more than just saying the words in the script. There is tone, there is timing, and sometimes a silence can say more than a whole lot of words. Great actors can show in their facial expression just the emotion and meaning that fits the scene perfectly. All, yes all these actors do this all through the movie. Of course, the actors need a great writer and director to get the best out of themselves. Here they have all met, and delivered. The story is straightforward and easy to follow, there are elements that we see connect to give meaning to what is happening now and what is about to happen. The characters are well defined, the events are realistic, and gripping. It was good at the start, and I kept worrying that it would get disappointing, but that never happened, it kept getting better and better. Three beautiful young women are waitresses is an up-market restaurant where the owners are involved in some shady but unspecified side businesses. The women, each with secrets which we eventually learn about, are dragged into events and really need to get themselves clear. They combine, they support, they do what needs to be done.At one point, Meg ( Mira Sorvino) who normally speaks so sweetly - like the girl next door, but in this moment of stress, her voice changes, and sounds so menacing. Brilliant, you'll know when you hear it. The grandmother, with perhaps dementia just sits there, says only a few words, but she too is brilliant and her inclusion adds so much to the reality of Meg's situation both in the first scene, and the last. Brilliant writing.

Overlooked sleeper that for some reason failed to get a theatrical release. Go figure. With so many awful stuff making it to the big screen, this one slipped through and got the bum's rush to cable and video.Remarkable performances by the female leads propel this under appreciated underworld movie that uses a balance of camaraderie and crime to give us an entertaining affair with some touching turns and violent vignettes.The bar scene that sets things in motion is a nod to Goodfellas (1990) and that said the Goodfellas here are pretty much out of central casting and the "twist" ending has been used many times but this film is better then most low budget mob movies.

There is a girl named Meg (Mira Sorvino) who decided to let behind her painful past, now she left her home in Missomi to be able to get a job as a waitress of a weird "familiar" restaurant in Stalen Island, New York who became in a dangerous place that belongs only to the mafia. Certain day, Meg being a good nurse, by accident save a man who shoot himself in his own nose. That leads with Meg being accepted and protected by the mafia, more specifically by Mr. Santalino (Arthur J. Nascarella). However so soon Mr. Santalino's admiration to Meg leaves troubles to Meg and company, Raychel (Mariah Carey) and Kate (Melora Walters) "This last hides a perfect secret".They will know that handle the mafia is not that big deal instead the survival fight it is. Don't miss it!

I watched this movie very late at night and was very surprised as to how good it really was. Mira Sorvino was very good and very believable in her part. When she told the other two women why she couldn't get interested in anybody, the plot changed to something more than just a "gangster movie". Mariah Carey did a good job as well and didn't seem to try and "take over" the film. Melora Walters role did a change as well and the outcome had more action than expected. Making Mira do something with the body of the man that the gangster had killed was unexplainable but she was truly believable in her reaction to what she was expected to do with the body. This movie is worth watching more than once. Maybe you'll be surprised as to how good the actors do in the film and how GREAT Mira Sorvino was in it as well.