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"KNOCKAROUND GUYS"
(2002) (Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Heavy Moderate Extreme *Moderate Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate Minor Mild None Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Extreme Mild Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Drama: A Brooklyn mobster's son and his three friends try to retrieve a bag that contains a great deal of money from the locals in a small Montana town who've taken it.
PLOT:
Matty Demaret (BARRY PEPPER) is a young man haunted by both his past and family name. When he was younger, his uncle, Teddy Deserve (JOHN MALKOVICH), couldn't persuade him to shoot the man who framed his mobster father, Benny Chains (DENNIS HOPPER), and thus he was never considered for any sort of position in the Brooklyn-based crime family.

Being the son of Benny, however, has caused no one to hire him for fear of being tangled up with the mob. Reduced to being his father's errand boy, Matty wants something more and eventually convinces Benny to allow him to transport half a million dollars across the country.

Unfortunately, Matty enlists the aid of Johnny Marbles (SETH GREEN), his nervous and former coke-head friend, to pick up the bag in Spokane and fly it back to New York. When he spots Sheriff Decker (TOM NOONAN) and Deputy Gray (SHAWN DOYLE) during a refueling stop in Wibaux, Montana, however, he panics and stashes the bag with others tagged for another flight.

While distracted by the local law officers who eye him suspiciously, Marbles doesn't realize that some local airport personnel have found the bag and taken it for themselves. When Marbles reports this to Matty, he, Marble's cousin, Chris Scarpa (ANDREW DAVOLI), and their tough guy friend, Taylor (VIN DIESEL), set off for the small town.

Once there, they attempt to recover the money, but one complication after another soon turns what should have been an easy job into an increasingly dicey and dangerous situation. With Teddy and his goons on the way, Matty and the others race to resolve the situation before time runs out.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of someone in the cast or mob-related movies, they might, but this one doesn't otherwise seem attractive to most kids.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For violence, language and some drug use.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • BARRY PEPPER plays a mobster's son who can't get a legit job due to his name association with the mob. He persuades his father to allow him to work for the family, but then scrambles to cover up the mess caused by Marbles losing the bag containing half a million dollars. He uses strong profanity, smokes and shoots a man dead.
  • VIN DIESEL plays his tough-guy friend who assists him in retrieving the bag by beating up a local. He uses strong profanity and smokes.
  • DENNIS HOPPER plays Matty's mobster father who doesn't believe his son is good enough to work for the mob. He uses strong profanity and smokes cigars.
  • JOHN MALKOVICH plays Matty's corrupt uncle and Benny's right-hand man who uses strong profanity, smokes and kills or has people killed.
  • ANDREW DAVOLI plays another son of a mobster who's a good friend of Matty's. He smokes, drinks, uses strong profanity and assists Matty in retrieving the missing money. He kills a man.
  • SETH GREEN plays another of Matty's friends who ends up causing their big problem. He snorts cocaine in one scene, smokes and uses strong profanity.
  • TOM NOONAN plays the corrupt and odd local sheriff who decides to keep the money for himself and then plans to kill Matty and his friends.
  • SHAWN DOYLE plays his reluctant deputy.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 75 "f" words and other expletives, while some colorful phrases and sexually related dialogue are also used. Violence involves various people being shot and killed, as well as people being hit, punched, beaten and having their tongue cut or cut out (with some bloody results).

    Some of those scenes and others might be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers, and most of the characters have bad attitudes. Various characters drink and/or smoke (a great deal of the latter), one uses cocaine and another gives cocaine to some women. Some imitative behavior is also present, as is some tense family material regarding a father/son relationship.

    Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Chris gives some women what's presumably cocaine as he discreetly hands them a small piece of paper and tells them to "powder your noses."
  • Marbles states that it's been 10 months since anything was up his nose.
  • People have drinks in a bar where Matty and his friends have drinks in front of them.
  • Realizing he's falling asleep while piloting his plane, Marbles decides to snort some cocaine to perk him up. Upon arriving in a small town, he spots the local sheriff and discreetly lets the rest of it blow away in the wind behind him.
  • Two small town airport employees share a joint. Later, they buy a great deal of snack/junk food as if having an extreme case of "the munchies."
  • People drink in a bar.
  • Some locals drink.
  • We see one of the above stoners doing a bong hit.
  • Chris drinks as does Marbles who tells Chris he might want to "notch it back" (stop drinking so much).
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • A man has blood from his mouth and some on his clothing after his tongue has been cut or cut out.
  • A man's face is bloody after Taylor beats him up and there's some blood on the floor around him.
  • Matty has a little bit of a bloody lip.
  • We see the slightly bloody bullet impact on various bodies (and their clothes) as they're shot.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Other than for a few minor characters, all of the major ones have varying degrees of bad attitudes, including those involved in organized crime and/or who kill, beat or intimidate others, as well as a corrupt sheriff.
  • A store owner tries to hide money from Taylor that he knows he owes him.
  • Two local stoners find and keep an unmarked bag at the airport.
  • A local man slaps a woman and then acts disrespectfully toward Chris and Taylor.
  • The local sheriff forces his deputy to split a great deal of hot money with him. He also beats Matty and then plots to have him and his friends killed.
  • A gun shop owner states that the waiting period for purchases really only applies to "garden variety Latino stickup men" and then sells guns to Matty and his gang without waiting for that and accepts a bribe from them.
  • A mob figure turns out to have conspired against his own people.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence" might also be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers, but more so to those with low tolerance levels or exposure to such material.
  • We see a flashback scene where Teddy brings a then 12-year-old Matty into a room where a man who reportedly ratted out Matty's father is tied to a chair. Teddy gives Matty a handgun and tells him to kill the man who then pleads for his life as the boy aims the gun at him. Tiring of the man's voice, Teddy then punches him and takes a knife that he uses to cut the man's tongue (or cut it out - we briefly see the knife horizontally in his mouth and then see a fair amount of blood afterwards). Matty ultimately can't shoot the man, but once outside he hears several gunshots that indicate the man was killed.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns/Shotguns: Used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
  • Hunting Rifle: Seen in a hunting show on TV.
  • We see Matty and his friends practice shooting at a makeshift target range.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Tough as f*cking nails," "Shut the f*ck up," "Too f*cking good," "F*ck 'em," "What the f*ck /is the matter with you/are you doing/you want/is that/is he doing here?" "Stone f*cking goombas," "You f*ck," "F*cking A," "I'm f*cked here," "Don't f*ck this up," "Who the f*ck has the money," "You're a f*cking hard-on," "No f*cking way," "F*cking great," "Where the f*ck is my money?" "I f*cked up," "Dogsh*t," "Sack of sh*t," "(Cut the) Bullsh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Dumb sh*t," "Broads" (women), "Smoodge" (presumably semen), "Shut up," "Bastards," "Idiot," "Where the hell are ya?" "Jeez," "Douche bag," "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's rain," "Punks" and "Oysters" (testicles).
  • Taylor has tattoos on his arms.
  • Two minor characters race down a hilly highway while lying on what look like long skateboards.
  • Taylor and the others decide that the best way to make a menacing/formidable impression on the locals is to find the toughest guy and beat him up in front of others.
  • A woman wears a midriff-revealing top.
  • A local spits on Taylor's leg.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • A person suddenly shoots another person.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A mild amount of suspenseful music plays in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 75 "f" words (1 used sexually as is the term "laid"), 15 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("c*cks*cker"), 3 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 S.O.B.s, 2 hells, 1 damn, 3 uses of "G-damn," 2 of "Swear to Christ" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "Jesus," "Jesus Christ" and "Swear to God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Benny mockingly asks if people have stopped "f*cking," betting and borrowing this month.
  • A character comments on not having to clean up "smoodge" (presumably semen) from a floor.
  • Chris states that he needs to keep the family name as it gets him "laid" at least once a week.
  • SMOKING
  • Taylor smokes around 10 times, Chris, Matty and Benny (cigars) each smoke several times, Marbles and Teddy each smoke once, and miscellaneous characters also smoke.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • There's some tension between Matty and his father regarding the former wanting to work for the latter who doesn't think he's good enough.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Organized crime.
  • Father/son relationships and expectations.
  • Being influenced by your family name (e.g. your or your family's reputation preceding you).
  • VIOLENCE
  • We see a flashback scene where Teddy brings a then 12-year-old Matty into a room where a man who reportedly ratted out Matty's father is tied to a chair. Teddy gives Matty a handgun and tells him to kill the man who then pleads for his life as the boy aims the gun at him. Tiring of the man's voice, Teddy then punches him and takes a knife that he uses to cut the man's tongue (or cut it out - we briefly see the knife horizontally in his mouth and then see a fair amount of blood afterwards). Matty ultimately can't shoot the man, but once outside he hears several gunshots that indicate the man was killed.
  • Upset that a convenience store owner is stiffing him over owed money, Taylor returns to the store with a crowbar and proceeds to smash various electronic gambling machines. He then grabs the owner, pulls him from his booth, bashes his head against something and then throws him back into his booth.
  • A local man hits a woman for dancing with Chris. Taylor then approaches that man and after some brief talking, grabs and head-butts him, sending him to the floor. That guy then tries to punch Taylor but misses and Taylor then punches him in the body many times. He knees him in the face, picks him up off the floor and then repeatedly punches the man - quite hard -- in the face until it's rather bloody.
  • The above local man finds and then pushes a stoner backwards to intimidate him.
  • We see a turkey be hit by a shot in a hunting video.
  • The sheriff slaps his son.
  • Matty tries to coerce the sheriff into giving him his money. Instead, the sheriff slams him into a wall and the deputy then holds a shotgun on Taylor and the others to keep them at bay. The sheriff then knees and hits Matty in the face. He then drags him out into the main room and kicks him in the gut and then does so again several times. The sheriff then pulls his handgun and aims it at Matty, but the deputy talks him down.
  • The guys discover that Marbles' plane has been torched (we see it burning).
  • Teddy backhands Marbles.
  • We briefly see some martial arts fighting in a movie playing in a drive-in.
  • Two older mob figures beat up a younger one, punching him in the face and gut. They then drag him into an alley where one hits him over the head and knocks him to the ground. One aims a gun at him trying to get him to disclose another man's location. The other man then pulls his gun and shoots this man several times (seen from a distance, no blood). They then put his body into a car trunk.
  • Various people hold their guns on others and then more people show up and hold their guns on them. A person finally shows up and shoots a man dead and everyone then opens fire on the others, resulting in all but two people being shot and killed (at least 6 and some are bloody, and another is shot in the arm).



  • Reviewed October 7, 2002 / Posted October 11, 2002

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