A misplaced bag containing half a million dollars belonging to a mob underboss played by Dennis Hopper. What sounds like a formula for freakish violence and a torrent of incessant expletives is in fact a stylish mobster film that stands out due to some very inventive casting.
Benny “”Chains”” Demaret (Hopper) sits behind a desk in New York while legman Teddy Deserve (John Malkovich) goes after the bag.Malkovich plays a genuinely disturbing friend of Chains who — 15 years before the events of the film occur — placed a gun into young Matty Demaret’s (Barry Pepper) hands to see if he could pull the trigger on an alleged rat.Now, Matty tries to prove himself to his father, Chains, 15 years later by arranging the transport of the half million to Chains’ bosses. No longer relegated to a supporting actor role, Pepper proves he is more than capable of being a leading actor. Matty enlists the aid of three friends to get the bag: Taylor Reese, Johnny Marbles, and Chris Scarpa, played by Vin Diesel, Seth Green, and Andrew Davoli, respectively.When the bag goes missing following the botched delivery by Johnny Marbles, the Chains Gang comes to small-town U.S.A. where the interplay between city folk and redneck is extremely entertaining to behold. Vin Diesel reprises his role as a tough-as-nails bodyslammer. Hopefully one day soon we will see Diesel’s acting abilities tested in new waters.Written and directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, Knockaround Guys is a dark film, with most scenes taking place in darkened interiors and at night. The mood this creates throughout the film is fitting for its dark ending and an even darker John Malkovich. This film is rated R for violence, language, and some drug use.Final Grade B+