Nostalgia can paint a rosy picture even of the phenomena that were anything by desirable in its time. In case of Deuces Wild, 2002 period crime drama directed by Scott Kalvert, the phenomenon in question is presence of teenage gangs on the streets of major American cities. The plot is set in 1958 Brooklyn and deals with conflict between two Italian American teen gangs – “Dueuces” and “Vipers”. Leon Anthony (played by Stephen Dorff) is, despite his cooperation with local mob boss Fritzy (played by Matt Dillon), determined to prevent heroin being sold in his neighbourhood. The reason for that is very personal – Leon’s brother has died overdosing on heroin provided by Marco Vendetti (played by Norman Reedus), leader of Vipers who, unlike Deuces, don’t mind heroin trade. Marco has shortly after that ended in prison and is about to return home, convinced that Leon has informed police on him and determined to wipe Leon and Deuces from the face of the earth. While Fritzy ponders how to exploit escalating gang conflict to further his own agenda, situation gets complicated with Leon’s brother Bobby (played by Brad Renfro) starting romantic relationship with Annie “The Ice Cube” (played by Fairuza Balk), sister of Vipers’ member Jimmy “Pockets” (played by Balthazar Getty).
Deuces Wild represents somewhat unusual film that looks like it was made few decades too late. Its nostalgic depiction of late 1950s and its youth subculture might have worked better in 1970s or 1980s, with potential audience more likely to reminisce about “good old times”. The greatest irony about it glorifies teen gangs while being directed by Scott Kalvert, film maker who had been accused of glorifying school shootings in The Basketball Diaries. However, anything Kalvert could be accused in this film is poor direction of action scenes, during which he uses slow motion too much. Script, despite occasional slippage into cliches, is functional and the characters are played by diverse and talented cast. Viewers probably won’t see in Deuces Wild what they haven’t seen before, but those who stumble into it won’t regret it. Some may even feel nostalgia towards times when teen gangs used chains and zip guns instead of Uzis and drive by shootings.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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