Lanksy
Vertical EntertainmentMob meddling and organised crime are at the core of Lansky – not just the feature, but the man. He was the notorious mob accountant that steered the terrifying heyday of crime to its peak. Here, there is a blend of past and present, conducted through fairly familiar stylings. Legends and fables of the modern American mobster are misconstrued here as something of great fascination and fact, but that is the risk director Eytan Rockaway takes when blurring the past and present with one another, and as Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel) regales us with his story, there is a sense that the dynamic of the modern-day is far more interesting than those Roaring 20s and the gangsters that lived through them.
All the finest parts of Lansky are from Keitel, whose heavy lifting brings life to these mobster woes. We can only be taken so far by this tale, though, for it has been done before and often. Lansky wades deep into the heart of the gangster drama and comes out with nothing unique. Instead, it depends upon those that came before it, borrowing from the greats of the genre with solid riffs and representations of those tired tropes from decades past. Those moments with Keitel, and even Sam Worthington as struggling writer David Stone, make the feature feel as if it were not a wasted opportunity. Together, they offer strong chemistry, interesting scenes of a biographer trying to collect the memories of an old mobster.
But that blur of amiable simplicity is welcoming. Rockaway lingers on Keitel for much of the film, because that is his strongest draw. Correctly identifying that is half the battle, and Rockaway makes peace with this, allowing for narration to bleed into the past, explaining the life of Meyer Lansky with broad strokes of detail. Where it falters though is when it moves away from the eponymous mobster and toward those he associated with. There are solid performances here from David Cade and Robert Walker Branchaud, but the supporting roles that surround their depictions of real-world mobsters smack a bit broad of that typical New York mobster styling. At times, Lansky is one “fuggedaboutit” away from falling into parody. At least John Magaro as the younger Lansky provides ample material in these moments of the past.
“I like stories about complicated people,” Stone offers. Ironic it may be to have a quote of complexity in such a simple film, the real draw of Lansky is just how Hollywood it can feel at times. With Worthington and Keitel offering great performances, it is hard to dispel the entertainment value. They meet in the same booth at the same coffee house to discuss the life of a famed mobster accountant. What few details we are really given here are of interest, but the focus from Rockaway is on their relationship, and that is where the strength lies. Lansky is at its strongest when detailing the relationship between writer and subject, not when it busies itself with those that surrounded the infamous financier.