Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Jimmy Giannopoulos, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
The Birthday Cake is one movie where old familiar faces keep popping up.
There’s Vincent Pastore from The Sopranos; Paul Sorvino as an elderly don hooked up to an oxygen tank; Lorraine Bracco features as Gio’s widowed mother, who has baked the birthday cake; and William Fichtner is a corrupt and unbalanced cop. Then we see Val Kilmer as the neighborhood kingpin, speaking through an electronic voice box; and Aldis Hodge as forceful FBI agent.
On the 10th anniversary of his father’s death, Giovanni ‘Gio’ unwillingly accepts the task of taking a cake for the celebration to the home of his Uncle Angelo (Kilmer), a Brooklyn mob boss. However, it’s not long before Gio witnesses a murder that will force him to learn the truth behind his father’s death and change his life forever. He starts to piece together what really happened and ultimately comes face-to-face with the type of violence he has tried to avoid his whole life.
Shiloh Fernandez, as Gio, meets Ewan McGregor playing a priest who curiously also narrates the story. His daughter Clara McGregor also has a small part.
Giannopoulos’s feature-length debut may not be an ideal confection, but this cake has some layers. It is multifaceted: a tale of salvation, an ode to mob movies of times past, cloaked note about race in America and a lyrical ode to Brooklyn, ‘home to some of the most ruthless mobsters in history’.
While it can’t be compared with classics like Goodfellas and Scarface, The Birthday Cake has some heart.
We have three DVDs of The Birthday Cake to give away. All you have to do to win a copy is correctly answer this question. Who plays the lead as Gio? Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 11 October 2021. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 12 October 2021.
