User reviews

Ribisi is always good and he gives a great performance. I can;t say the rest of the cast does. The mother character is nothing too special and the lead is mediocre. The whole mob feel gets lost when Tommy Lee makes his appearance. It starts out with the cliché, voice over done by the lead character as all mob movies do. There is no real description of the rise of Joey(Ribisi's Character) to mob boss. It was a story based on a Philadelphia mafia, I was thinking Joey Merlino but I guess not because of the ending. All in all the movie was not that bad. I recommend "Gotti" or "Goodfellas" first though. No major players in this one but it will hold your attention. I wish there was more story of the kids growing up into mob guys but they skip that and head right into adulthood.

I gave this film an 8. Maybe it's just because I happen to think Giovanni Ribisi is an exceptional actor, but I really did find this to be a surprisingly good film. The one thing that didn't sit well with me was the idea that James Marsden is the star. That's simply a misnomer. He is a decent actor and does give a professional effort, but I just do not see him as the street-tough Philly kid he's supposed to be. Maybe this is a bit cynical, but there really wouldn't be much reason for a woman to watch this movie if not for somebody with good looks like Marsden playing the lead character and gracing the cover of the DVD. Hey, don't get me wrong, Piper Perabo has made me watch a movie or two that I regret, so it definitely goes both ways. Still, I could have done without the forced romance angle that they really tried to pull off between the two of them. But overall I definitely would recommend seeing this film for Ribisi's performance if nothing else. As he ages he's beginning to play some much darker, grittier characters which suits him very well. His versatility is astounding, especially his ability to maintain a level of sympathy no matter how many misdeeds he commits. Check this one out if you're a fan of the genre, it will hold your attention and may surprise you a bit as it's much more than just the former Marine forced to return home in order save his family from a couple of corrupt cops trying to extort him.

It was a mediocre movie with a good cast and lots of clichés. Plot was nice, but predictable and unoriginal. Val Kilmer and Dennis Hopper were simply there for BIG NAME billing and a waste of time. It was also funny to see Tommy Lee in a cameo. James Marsden, Giovanni Ribisi, and Brad Renfro were all excellent and were believable. I don't know, but I think Rocco was played by The Tony Luke, Jr. His roast pork sandwiches are fantastic.

My main problem with the movie is that it was not filmed at 10th & Wolf. I grew up in Philadelphia and it looks nothing like the scenes in the movie. Well, maybe they got a few street shots. There were too many bridges, streets too wide and too clean, and the properties were too wide to name a few examples. Even the scenes on 9th street (outside the butcher shop scenes) were not filmed on the market that I know. It was not just a mediocre movie, but it was a sham.

A decent story, good acting, but for a good number of people who have spent any time in Philly and/or Pittsburgh, ... you can't pull off calling Pittsburgh 'Philadelphia' (anymore then you can call Philadelphia 'Pittsburgh'). Both cities are great locations for movies... but just because they both happen to be in Pennsylvania, you can't interchange them -- geographically, architecturally they are distinctively unique (even if you leave the "Youse Guys" and the "Younse" accents out of it). Had South Philly's "Rocky" been filmed in Pittsburgh but pawned off as Philly it wouldn't be the classic it became, (nor conversely would the "Deer Hunter") it would have been ruined. I don't know how much better "10th & Wolf" would have been if the geography matched the story, but for me it would have been more believable.

Tommy (James Marsden) is a Marine threatened with prison after a drunken fight during the Gulf War. It's 1991. Unscrupulous FBI Agent Horvath (Brian Dennehy) recruits him as a confidential informer. His family is connected to the Philadelphia mafia. Mob boss Matty Matello (Dennis Hopper) has been assassinated and Tommy's beloved cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) is the new leader. The New York mob is looking to take over.

This is second tier gangster flick. It feels like it. It looks like it. The filmmaking is strictly second tier level. Marsden is not quite mobster material. I guess that Tommy is not a mobster but it would be better to have some buried mobster within him. Marsden can't do that. Brad Renfro could have done it better. The saving grace of this movie is Ribisi. He is the definition of unstable and is a great mini-Hopper. At the end of the day, this is very derivative and a lesser version of better movies. I do still like me some Ribisi.

This is a fancy production with all the right bells and whistles however it gives an impression of only being an assembly of second takes from past gangster flicks. There is nothing original or spellbinding in the film and unfortunately the acting comes across as only being phony. It rings of a small-town group trying to outdo the pros by imitating them. Like Dennis Hopper the movie is just not believable. I must say I do believe the storyline is credible along with all of the film's technical aspects though I find it hard to believe more of an effort wasn't made to appear unique and intriguing in overall presentation.

Robert Moresco ('Crash') is proving to be a fine storyteller with a definite style of his own. 10TH & WOLF, written by both Moresco and Allan Steele and directed by Moresco appears on the shelves of DVDs as one of those films that makes us wonder why it didn't do well on the theater screens: it is well written, beautifully directed, has a cast that is consistently fine, and unravels a family involved in organized crime theme as well as any movie out there.

Moresco very wisely starts his story in the burning oil fields of Kuwait during Desert Storm where Marine sargeant Tommy (James Marsden, doing his finest work since his brilliant portrayal in THE 24TH HOUR) drives his Hummer through the desert, coming to grips with the absurdity of war, a key turn in his personality causing him to be dishonorably discharged for his refusal to take part in that ridiculous war game. He is given a deal: FBI agents Horvath (Brian Dennehy) and Thornton (Leo Rossi) visit his cell stateside and offer him clemency if he helps them capture a big drug dealer Reggio (Francesco Salvi) in Tommy's hometown of Philadelphia. Tommy had escaped the organized crime scene by joining the Marines, but is suddenly returned to his family occupation as an undercover agent with a wire. Tommy's brother Vincent (Brad Renfro) and his cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi) welcome his return and begin plotting ways to off Reggio. Beatings and murders begin to occur: Joey is a bit on the mad side and plunges his boys into messes that become like quicksand. How the family bonds over losses to big crime and vendettas, and how that lifestyle affects parents (Lesley Ann Warren) and victims turned girlfriends (Piper Perabo) leaving the drive to survive as the paramount goal is the run of the plot.

There are plenty of cameos (Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Dash Mihok etc) to round out the dark atmosphere, but the strength of the film lies strongly on the shoulders of Marsden, Ribisi and Renfro and they handle their roles exceptionally well. This is yet another big crime story but one that grips the audience's attention and holds it to the final twisted end. Strong violence and language, but a testy and tightly woven story with many unspoken metaphors. Grady Harp

This is one of those films that gives the impression it is written by someone who is more a fan of the genre than a practitioner. It contains all the usual elements found in these 'tough' and 'gritty' crime dramas – the questionable loyalty between hoods who have grown up together on the mean streets of the city's slums, the psychotic gangster, the tough but vulnerable single mum, the doting mother, the sleazy clubs, the random acts of violence, the pop music soundtrack – but never once comes close to showing any signs of originality.

James Marsden – as anonymous a leading man as you are ever likely to find – plays the son of a mobster drummed out of the marines for stealing a jeep and going after Saddam on his own when the US call off the Gulf War on the dictator's doorstep back in '91. He is offered a deal by shady cop Brian Dennehy (looking surprisingly trim but worryingly frail) to help put away a mobster from his old neighbourhood in return for his freedom from military prison. Returning to his old haunts, he falls in with his slightly feeble-minded brother and his cousin – ably played by Giovanni Ribisi – who is about to embark on a gang war with the mobster in question, which leads to the usual conflict of loyalties.

After watching this I wondered not only why I bothered watching it through to its inevitable conclusion, but also why anybody bothered putting up the money for it. The script is pedestrian at best, and the storyline never wavers from a path that is as predictable as it is dull. Only the quality of the acting, and especially a blistering performance from Ribisi, make this worth watching at all. Well – that and the unintentionally hilarious death scene of one-legged gangster, Julian.

I was not at the special screening in Orange County but got to see this movie under special circumstances. To me, this movie was about five elements from being great. Having said that, though, I would definitely recommend other people to see it because the project as a whole is worth it and it pays off in the end. James Marsden was excellent. Giovanni Ribisi was near excellent. Some of the other actors did very good jobs with their parts. The story itself was also compelling. What didn't ring true to me were Warren's performance. . .totally miscast and an average performance, the cameos of Tommy Lee and Val Kilmer were distracting and unneeded, Brad Renfro was good in any one scene but from scene to scene his character was not consistent. . .one scene he seemed normal and the next he seemed like Rain Man, the dialogue had a few too many clichés, and the movie did not completely capture the period of the early 1990's or, in flashbacks, the mid-80's. Had all of these things been just a little better a 9 out of 10 would have been easily attained. Still I plan to recommend it to other people because this movie will emotionally move you.

Basic story here is one of situational ethics.This is the kind of thing that the right-wing nut-jobs on radio and TV decry except when it is used to do things like fight drugs or find terrorists.

In this movie James Marsden plays a returning Desert Storm vet that got in trouble and is used by the government (Brian Dennehy & Leo Rossi) to rejoin his brother and friend (Giovanni Ribisi and Brad Renfro) to infiltrate the Philadelphia mob and bring down the drug lord. Torture and murder are government-approved for this purpose.

Marsden and Ribisi do excellent jobs here, and this is the best work I have seen by Piper Perabo. It even has a cameo by Tommy Lee, which would have been much better is it was Pamela instead.

The least the maker of the "Philly mob" movie could have done was made some of it in Philly!!! This movie was a joke! Guess they are from California, they have no idea what the Philadelphia area is about! This was a living disgrace and the maker should be ashamed of himself! It is a shame that people will actually think that Pittsburgh is Philly. The two cities are nothing alike. Not that there is anything wrong with Pittsburgh, it's just not Philly. The best part of this movie was James Marsden, yummy. I just think that the people of Philadelphia should have spoken up, this was horrific. And to be compared to Goodfellas is the biggest joke that I have heard in a very long time!!!

What an awful film. I caught a screening of it last night in Irvine, CA. I think the filmmakers would be lucky if it made it straight to USA or FX. It's not even good enough for Showtime. Seriously though. Every cliché in existence is thrown in, combined with REALLY bad acting and REALLY bad cameos from Val Kilmer and Dennis Hopper. What a waste of time. The worst performance in the film probably comes from Lesley Ann Warren, who acts all Jennifer Coolidge-esquire in an over-the-top role. After seeing this movie, everyone will know that Paul Haggis is the real brains behind "Crash," because what Bobby Moresco wrote here comes straight from the lame examples you would find in a book on how to write a screenplay. Trust me, and don't waste your time on this movie if it ever ends up coming to a theater near you, which it probably won't. This was pure trash.

James Marsden returns to Philly after a tour in the the tougher spots of the world, but nothing as bloody as Brian Dennehy playing the Stenfa faction of what a friend of mine used to call the Mothers & Father's Italia Association.

It's a beautifully cast movie, with performers like Giovanni Ribisi, Lesley Ann Warren, Dennis Hopper and Val Kilmer stretching to play a crazy man. Despite some fine acting, in the end its message is that criminals are bad, and guns are a lot of fun to watch.

10th and Wolf is a movie about a bunch of punks born into the Italian mafia. Some good acting from experienced cast helped a tired old plot keep your attention for the length of the movie. It goes like this, punk gets put in prison, bad cops get punk out of prison to infiltrate the mob and turn in his fellow mobsters, punk turns in the bad guys and makes himself look like the good guy. Frankly, it wouldn't hurt to make it open season on all mobsters and their families. The general public could rid society of the mobster blight rather handily. Movies that glamorize the disease of the gangster are doing real law abiding people a great disservice. But other than that, it wasn't a bad movie.

Worth a watch from understanding how lives ruined by guns & organized crime, but it has gobs of ridiculous violence and embellishments to the true story it's supposed to represent. If you find a life of crime & guns attractive after seeing this, you definitely have mental health issues. So there's value to this movie, but not sure it was intended as such. Consequences. Let's hope it's always true.

This film is obviously about the Mob in Philadelphia. I saw it got two stars on a DirecTV rating. I didn't think this mob movie was profound as the Godfather but I rated it five out of ten stars on IMDb.

I liked the cast and the acting was at least as good as prime time TV. I am from Philly and I know a little about the mob in Philly but I'll have to dig further and find out which mob guys this film is supposed to be based on.

While I thought this film was moderately entertaining the street and river shots hardly looked like Philly. I read the producers got a nice financial break for shooting this movie in Pittsburgh. But really guys, spend a couple of extra bucks and shoot in the city where the story took place.

I was surprised at how much I liked this film, being that I had never heard of it. The story focuses on Tommy (James Marsden), who has just come home from the army, but he's now undercover (working for Brian Dennehey), to bring down the gangsters he grew up. He comes home to see his brother Vincent (Brad Renfro) and his cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi), and the story goes from there. I won't go into any more detail at the sake of not ruining the film, but it's very good. If you enjoy a good gangster film, then this is the one for you. I am giving it an 8 out of 10. Also notice certain celeb cameos, such as Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee, an d Dennis Hopper.

The movie overall isn't terrible but hardly great however it would have gotten a higher rating from me if not for the poor casting in some instances. Brad Renfro isn't even slightly believable as an Italian, James Marsden isn't much better and Dennis Hopper is about as Italian as a bowl of Irish stew. The cultural appropriation and stereotypes aside the movie isn't the worst and might be worth a watch.

This feels like an attempt at an homage to Mafia films and it nearly makes it. I actually like the reluctant element given to Marsden's central character. The cast are strong with no real weak links. The story line is very formulaic but given the great Mafia movies of the past, most writers will struggle to be original. I've seen alot worse.

The movie, mediocre at best. What a disappointment. Some great actors in not so great roles. I really think I started to lose interest every time I was reminded that the movie was NOT shot in Philadelphia. My mind would wander and take time to try to get back to the story. I really feel the movie lost its authenticity by not being filmed in Philly. I couldn't agree more with Sunee161. C'mon. Philly is one of the cheapest places to film ANYWHERE! Pittsburgh is a great city, but it's no Philly. The filmmakers had to keep reminding us of that with shots of mountains in the background, the Bud billboard with the Steelers logo on it, a route 837 North sign outside the Antique Gallery. REALLY??? Even the street signs didn't look like Philly. Ever hear of SECOND UNIT??? Couldn't you have used some stock Philly footage or some b-footage. How hard would the 5 1/2 hour DRIVE have been to get some real Philly footage? World War Z was shot in Glasgow, Scottland and looked more like Philly because at least they brought in newspaper honor boxes, parking signs, street signs and streetlights. Admittedly, the taxis were New York, not Philly. And jeffca from Ardmore, considering Philly was having it's "city wide government shutdown" I don't blame Knight for shooting Devil in Canada. He really wanted to shoot it in Philly like all the rest of his movies, but how long should he have waited, losing money, for Philly to get its act together. I agree, the film council has to be more aggressive and lure more film production to this city. I have a great idea for the producers of 10th & Wolf, how 'bout filming a movie that takes place in LA and shoot it in Paris. That should look convincing!