Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Hoods was such a letdown! It started out great - a comedy about members of a Mafia-like mob. With some great acting, and truly funny scenes. But two-thirds of the way through, the writers decided to get serious on us. What a disappointment! Mob movies should be funny, or serious. But don't try to mix it up; it doesn't work. Or, at least it didn't work this time.

Plot

Joe Montegna plays Angelo, son of the aging, and ailing mob boss, Louie (Seymour Cassel). Joe is called to his father's sickbed and given an order. In an act of vengeance for a warehouse bombing that morning, Louie wants Angelo to whack Carmine DellaRosa. Angelo's never heard of this Carmine character - is the father certain he didn't mean rival boss Carlo DellaRosa? No. The father is quite clear. Take out Carmine. Tonight. Or face the ultimate consequence.

Still confused, Angelo has no choice but to obey. So, he grabs his best friend Rudy (Kevin Pollack) and a few other of their wise-guy friends and they discuss what to do about this situation. Since none of them have heard of this Carmine guy, none of them wants to do the actual hit. They just don't "feel good about it". It's one thing to whack a guy, when you know who he is, and what he's done. But to whack someone you've never even heard of, well, apparently that goes against their "good nature".

So they decide to get their craziest hitman-for-hire, Charlie (Joe Pantoliano), to do it. Only problem is, Charlie's in a mental hospital right now, being treated for some form of "excessive aggression disorder". Therefore, the first order of business is to break him out of the hospital. Once that's accomplished, Charlie's good to go. He doesn't seem to have the same moral dilemma the other guys have. If there's a whacking to be done, he's up for the task.

Now they just have to figure out who this Carmine fellow is…

Funny Stuff

The movie was really quite funny, at least in the beginning. All during the set up, as these guys are driving around, trying to figure out how to take out someone they don't know, the laughs just keep coming. The dialog among these guys is quite clever, especially when they bicker over the little details. Like who gets to drive, who gets to sit in the front seat, who's gonna pay for lunch, etc.

Even once they figure out who Carmine is, and get him into the car with them, it's still a very funny movie. Carmine had been expecting a driver to pick him up, so he willingly gets in the car with these guys. Of course, they're trying to make it all seem very innocent when they veer off the course Carmine was expecting them to take.

The acting was terrific. Kevin Pollack, in particular did a great job. And Joe Pantoliano as the crazy Charlie was awesome. He showed us a complete lunatic, but managed to find just a little bit of heart, too.


So What Happened?

All of a sudden, the movie stops being a comedy. Serious flashbacks to Angelo's childhood are shown. We get to understand his relationship with his father through those scenes. But they're not "feel good" scenes, in fact it depicts quite a troubling start in life. Then there's the matter of the actual hit. Without going into any details, I'll just say that there was definitely no more comedy by this point. In the end, mob hits are serious business and lives are forever altered. I'm OK with serious mob stories, but not when I've spent the past hour laughing and expecting the laughs to continue. The serious turn was just out of place, and left me feeling very disappointed as the credits rolled.

I really can't recommend this movie to anyone, unless you want to watch an hour of comedy, then turn it off. Because the sad, serious ending is completely out of place, and negates any good feelings you might have about this movie. Rated R for language and violence this is not one for the kids. But, frankly, it's not for adults, either.


Recommended: No

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age