Prizzi's Honor DVD > Reviews > Prizzi's Shortcomings

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Unmemorable
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Unmemorable

Advantages:	Interesting spin on a thrice used storyline
Disadvantages:	Clumsy scripting

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Prizzi's Honour (or Honor as the Americans who made the film title spelt it) came to me in a bundle of DVDs as a present. Not exactly the kind of film that I would immediately want to own, but equally I was willing to give it a go. You may recognise the storyline as it is the basis from which the recent "Mr & Mrs Smith" was developed:

Charley (yes, that is how it's spelt) Patanna is loyal to the Prizzi family and, as their hitman, is prepared to kill for the family. Charley falls for out-of-town hitwoman Irene Walker but unknown to them, Maerose Prizzi (the Don's daughter) has set her sights on him. It all comes to a head when each is given a contract to kill the other.

With Jack Nicholson as Charley, Kathleen Turner as Irene and Anjelica Huston as Maerose, the cast certainly has the credentials to make the film impressive. Certainly Turner and especially Huston impressed me, but Nicholson sounded to me like he had no ability to create any kind of emotion in his voice. The entire script was just delivered deadpan, with only a hint of a foreign accent and barely a variance from monotone. The supporting cast for these three main stars were mostly brilliant with only a couple of flawed moments.

The main problem for the film seems to be the script itself. Whilst I obviously haven't seen it and so the issue could be with the directing, it seems mechanical throughout, and somewhat rushed. There appears to be a conflict of interests - trying to rush to the conclusion as quickly as possible and yet attempting to make each scene very laid back and slow paced. The result is a rapid succession of dawdling scenes.

There's no need for special effects here and that's good because it prevents the film from showing its age. In any case, the original has been digitally re-mastered for the transition onto DVD, which helps to reverse the aged colours typical of older pictures. The musical accompaniment isn't up to modern standards, but it equally doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. Prizzi's Honour is presented in 16:9 widescreen format, which I have little to comment on, but thought I should include for those of you who either have a widescreen TV or don't and hate those black lines at the top or bottom.

In terms of special features, the back of the DVD case advertises a fair number, but some are a bit of a con. The moving menus and chapter points can be completely disregarded, it's actually more noticeable when you get hold of a DVD that doesn't have those. The photo gallery only includes two pictures that aren't snapshots taken directly from the film and one of those is the front cover for the DVD. There are biographies of, trivia about and quotes from the three main cast members, but these will only cause a passing interest for film lovers and won't be detailed enough for film fanatics. The film awards section just tells you of the several nominations and one Oscar that were awarded. The production notes offer an insight into the thoughts and lives of John Huston (producer and director) and Richard Condon (writer of both the original novel and the film screenplay) but again is only of passing interest. Overall the extras are largely indicative of the age of the film, a set of options scraped together for modern day re-release from very little material.

When it comes down to it, the film adaptation of Prizzi's honour is rushed and unrealistic. I haven't read the book, but it's probably more worth a try than the film. I haven't recommended this film to potential buyers, but that actually depends upon the price. If you see it on offer, you might want to consider it, but otherwise, ignore it.