Ray Stevenson as Greene in Kill the Irishman.Image via Anchor Bay Films
By
André Joseph
Published 17 minutes ago
André Joseph is a movie features writer at Collider. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor's Degree in Film. He freelances as an independent filmmaker, teacher, and blogger of all things pop culture. His interests include Marvel, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Robocop, wrestling, and many other movies and TV shows.
His accomplishments as a filmmaker include directing the indie movie Vendetta Games now playing on Tubi, the G.I. Joe fan film "The Rise of Cobra" on YouTube, and receiving numerous accolades for his dramatic short film Dismissal Time. More information can be found about André on his official website.
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When Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited mob epic The Irishman hit Netflix in 2019, the reactions were sharply divided. Responses from critics and audiences either hailed it as the best mafia movie in years or argued that the three-hour-plus running time was too much to digest. With its Oscar-winning ensemble and filmmaker, The Irishman had a polish of prestige that Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2011 crime drama Kill the Irishman lacked. But in an ironic way, that turned out better for the latter picture.
The little-seen biopic stars the late Ray Stevenson as Cleveland longshoreman-turned-gangster Danny Greene, who clashed with the Italian mob during the ‘70s, ultimately playing a key role in bringing down the local families following his murder in 1977. Though it tells a different narrative from Scorsese’s tale about mob hitman Frank Sheeran, Kill the Irishman shares identical themes about working-class pride and the constant threat of death while being at the top of the criminal underworld. The Hensleigh movie was largely dismissed by critics for being a low-budget rip-off of Scorsese’s GoodFellas, as it holds a mixed 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes. When compared to The Irishman and Goodfellas, however, Kill the Irishman has one thing better than both Scorsese classics: A gangster with both feet on the ground who never gets seduced by the mob.
What Is 'Kill the Irishman' About?
In the early ‘60s, Cleveland, Danny Greene (Stevenson) rises through the ranks from a hardworking dockworker to the interim president of the International Longshoremen’s Association after he outmaneuvers the previous corrupt union boss, Jerry Merkle (Bob Gunton). Working alongside his best friend Art ‘Snep’ Sneperger (Jason Butler Harner) and local mob boss John Nardi (Vincent D’Onofrio), Greene makes life better for the longshoremen while illegally distributing stolen goods to the latter gangster. Greene’s dirty tactics catch the attention of Detective Joe Manditski (Val Kilmer), who arrests the union leader only to offer him a job as a secret FBI informant to avoid jail time.
As Greene engages in mob activities during the ‘70s with another boss, Jack Licavoli (Tony Lo Bianco), and loan shark Shondor Birns (Christopher Walken), his moral compass and high ambitions put him in the crosshairs of the respective crime families. The constant attempts on Greene’s life not only establish his reputation for being unstoppable but also take a toll on his family, including his wife Joan (Linda Cardellini). Just when Greene sees a future out of the game, New York’s Genovese Family enlists professional hitman Ray Ferritto (Robert Davi) to succeed where others had failed.
Kill the Irishman has a grounded, raw edge that far surpasses Scorsese’s epic vision with The Irishman’s de-aging effects on its legendary actors and the romanticization of corrupt men. Hensleigh’s film is depicted in a snapshot of ‘60s through ‘70s Middle America, as the manufacturing sector was falling apart, resulting in blue-collar men like Greene resorting to corruption. Yet, Greene’s corrupt acts are often done for the betterment of people less fortunate than he is. Initially, he stands up against Nardi after childhood pal Shep owes a gambling debt to the boss. Greene only cuts Nardi into the stolen dock goods operation to forgive the debt, and in turn, he gains a close ally in his rise to power. When it comes to bosses like Licavoli and the Gambinos who demand large percentages of Greene’s earnings, he stands defiant as an independent-minded leader unwilling to follow the traditional pack. Greene isn’t about fancy cars and suits like Henry Hill in Goodfellas, nor is he ambivalent about his violent acts like The Irishman’s Sheenan. Kill the Irishman’s protagonist is a living populist who puts his community first before the powers that be.
Ray Stevenson’s Humanization of a Folk Hero Gangster
Scorsese’s Goodfellas and The Irishman run at two different speeds when put up against Ray Stevenson’s performance in Kill the Irishman. Goodfellas puts the audience in Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) shoes by indulging in the fast, often chaotic, high life full of violence and drugs. The Irishman is a slow burn with Sheenan (Robert De Niro) reflecting on his hitman life with a sense of remorse he never felt until time passed him by. Kill the Irishman is more in line with the operatic rise and fall concept that drove the narrative course of Scarface and American Gangster. By that course of direction, Hensleigh’s movie puts the audience in Greene’s footsteps to identify with his defiant stance against the various crime families and authorities in front of him. Never once does Green feel regret for his ambitions, nor is he out to kill for killing’s sake, but to defend himself, his friends, and his neighbors.
All through the film, Stevenson displays his brute strength as a street-level criminal facing threats up close and without fear, whether it's a local biker gang getting rowdy in his neighborhood or confronting Ferritto when he’s being watched in a park. But then there’s Stevenson’s ability to humanize Greene as an Irish pride folk hero. The latter comes out through his interactions with characters not in the mob game, like neighbor Grace O’Keefe (Fionnula Flanagan), who has her rent paid off by Greene when threatened by eviction. Even more compelling is when Greene meets a young boy who idolizes him before another hit on his life takes place. When Stevenson, as Green, responds to the boy to not be anything like him, his performance makes you see through the tough exterior that this is simply a man who fell into his dangerous life out of necessity instead of desire.
Kill the Irishman may not have the intense depth and nuanced storytelling of Scorsese’s seminal films. However, it succeeds at examining mob life within the context of the blue-collar world outside high-profile families. Additionally, the film makes a compelling case for what happens when a man with earnest intentions and great pride ultimately self-destructs by going against the odds.
Kill the Irishman is available to watch on Kanopy in the U.S.
Kill the Irishman
Like Release Date March 11, 2011 Runtime 106 Minutes Director Jonathan HensleighCast
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Ray Stevenson
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Vincent D'Onofrio
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Val Kilmer
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Christopher Walken
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Ray Stevenson
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Christopher Walken
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