Nifty mob/FBI agent flick
LGwriter | Astoria, N.Y. United States | 09/09/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Some nice stuff here--an FBI agent with a nagging toothache and a history professor wife who can't keep her mouth shut; another FBI agent with a serious thing for an informant's hot sister; a low-level mob boss whose nickname, "Buddah", shows his contemplative attitude (as long as he gets his money); and a mob soldier with a bright yellow/blond mane and a nasty streak expressing itself in chaining people up.
Not your run of the mill mob film--plus which there's some real comedy here, meaning SMART comedy--e.g., the driver of the FBI van mouths off to the toothache agent about marriage and pines for a candy bar.
This was an HBO telefilm directed by Adam Bernstein, who also did another smart, funny mob comedy crime film, Six Ways to Sunday. Both are definitely worth watching. Bad Apple's based on a novel by crime writer Anthony Bruno and stars Chris Noth as the FBI agent with the hots for the informant's sister; Eliot Gould as "Buddah"; Colm Meaney as the agent with the toothache; Mercedes Ruehl as his snappy wife; and Robert Patrick as the bright blond nasty hood.
The good guys go after the bad guys. Nothing new there, but the approach is so smart and snappy it's a truly refreshing change of pace. Definitely unconventional; definitely fun to watch. Thumbs up."