Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By PHILIP BOOTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 7, 2000
Victor Kelly, an ex-con and struggling auto mechanic portrayed compellingly by Christopher Walken in The Opportunists, is sorely tempted to pursue one last, big score, even at the risk of another prison stint. And the pressures to cave in are mounting every day for the troubled resident of Sunnyside, Queens, a shaggy neighborhood neatly captured by first-time feature director Myles Connell.
Kelly bounces checks left and right. "Wait a day and it'll be good," he routinely tells creditors. The nuns in charge of the retirement home where his aged Aunt Diedre (Anne Pitoniak) stays are demanding payments. A repair job goes awry. And pride stands in the way of a loan from supportive girlfriend Sally Mahon, an industrious bar owner played by a surprisingly effective Cyndi Lauper. Even worse, Kelly's daughter Miriam (Vera Farmiga) halfway expects Dad to backslide.
"The regular-citizen thing isn't going too well," he complains to old associate Mort Stein (Tom Noonan, greasy and irritable).
Opportunity knocks, literally, when Michael Lawler (Peter McDonald) introduces himself as a distant cousin. The young Irishman is a big fan of his American relative's safecracking expertise. Lawler itches for action and soon enough hooks up with neighborhood lowlife Pat Duffy (Donal Logue of The Patriot), a security guard practically begging Kelly to mastermind a sure-fire burglary.
One overdue bill leads to another, and Kelly agrees to direct the operation. Connell, to his credit, doesn't choose to amp up the energy of the film. Instead, we follow the veteran thief on his day-to-day routine, as he cautiously checks out the location of the proposed heist, deals with the suspicions of Sally and Vera, and smoothes relations with the landlord of Vic's Garage.
Kelly, hardly seeming to relish any moment of the job at hand, affirms his mastery of his chosen craft, but it wouldn't be fair to reveal any more. Except for this: Whatever fate dishes out, the beat-down survivor is determined to accept it all with a certain quiet dignity. Credit Walken's deceptively straightforward performance with allowing us to believe every moment of his character's misfortunes and blessings.
The rhythms of Connell's film might be thought of as sluggish. Then again, the downbeat pacing offers a refreshing change from the high-energy jolts provided by most movies of this genre. It's an absorbing little piece of work.
The Opportunists
Grade: B+
Director: Myles Connell
Cast: Christopher Walken, Peter McDonald, Cyndi Lauper, Vera Farmiga, Donal Logue
Screenplay: Myles Connell
Rating: R; language