Mob narratives rarely put women front and center, unless it's in a straight comedy ("Married to the Mob," the recent "Mafia Mamma") or cheesy made-for-TV movies like "Mafia Princess." and “Bella Mafia.” Jennifer Esposito, no stranger to the genre as an actress, attempts to balance that accounting with her writer-director debut, “Fresh Kills.”
This solid drama centers on a family similar to “The Sopranos,” but with its patriarch relegated to the background. The focus here is on wives and daughters, who must turn a blind eye to criminal acts from which they both benefit and suffer the consequences. Originally a Tribeca premiere, “Fresh Kills” has been traveling the festival circuit and should prove a viable item for streaming platforms and broadcasters.
Director: Jennifer EspositoWriter: Jennifer EspositoStars: Jennifer Esposito, Odessa A'zion, Annabella Sciorra
After a framing sequence that fast-forwards to a later moment of crisis, we meet the Larussos in 1987 as they move toward a “better life” from their old Brooklyn life, assuming a rather palatial address on Staten Island. This upward mobility does little to quell the volatile marital chemistry between Joe (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Francine (Esposito), or fundamentally change their two children, as Rose remains the "quiet" one while Connie is her brash opposite.
As the two girls grow into young women played by Emily Bader and Odessa A'Zion, those characteristics only deepen: Rose's passivity makes her easily pushed around by everyone, particularly her hot-headed sister. “You're part of this family whether you like it or not,” she is told, and any hint that she doesn't like it prompts furious lectures from “Con” about family loyalty, sometimes accompanied by a physical threat. When Rose hints that she might want more than getting engaged to neighbor Bobby (David Iacono), or running the bakery her father bought to keep Connie and her troubled cousin Allie (Nick Cirillo) “out of trouble,” she tells him with anger: “Now.” Do you think you're better than us?!? Even her mother, who treats her as a confidant, does not want her to acquire any notion of independence.
These characters don't really evolve or reveal themselves to be more complex than they first appear; Esposito's script has authenticity but not much depth or surprise. Still, his relatively narrow focus is well served by performances and direction that fill it with a lived-in assurance.
Despite the title, “Fresh Kills” is a story about organized crime whose body count and violence remain largely off-screen. What grips us is the fear that these things could at any moment invade the domestic lives represented, and the resulting tension that permeates everyday actions. The denial Rose has lived in: naively asking the wise Connie, "Is Dad an honest man?" – eventually collapses in the worst possible way. Even then, however, the emphasis is not on the dirty deeds committed, but on the compromises these women make (knowingly or not) to please them. They married to become, or were born as accessories.
In the more striking of the two lead roles, A'Zion convinces with a terrifying volatility that makes Connie roughly equivalent to James Caan's "The Godfather" role, or De Niro's in "Mean Streets": the explosive cable whose recklessness seems to invite perdition. although her destiny is not as planned. Bader carries the film quite skillfully, even if Rose could have elaborated a little more on the intelligence we're meant to assume she possesses.
She gets an accusatory climactic speech that feels a little forced, as does one just before for the always welcome Annabella Sciorra, who is otherwise underutilized as a supportive aunt. Esposito herself is fine as Francine, simultaneously dissatisfied and resigned, although the suggestion of actual mental instability in an early sequence is left unexplored. Lombardozzi and the other male cast members are effective, however, there are few glimpses of their money laundering, murders and whatnot.
Professional rather than particularly distinctive in its stylistic aspects, the production leaves its most assertive aesthetic impression through production designer T.V.'s striking decoration. Alexander (Francine thinks she's talented in that regard), plus the big hair and flashy fashion from the late '80s/early '80s. -'90s era. The movie could have had more fun with vintage cuts on the soundtrack, settling for some rather weak covers by Radiohead and others.
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