Bullet Points: Hitters (2002)
I enjoy mob movies because they usually make you root for a bad guy. The movie might have a protagonist, but it is still a protagonist that is involved in a criminal lifestyle. We need these people like that so we can point our fingers and say that’s the bad guy. And when Robert Davi is the good of the bad guys I am all in just like 2002’s Hitters.
- More Like FBN – Hitters makes an interesting choice of having FBI agent Cassidey (Christopher Lawford) narrate the entire movie. There is a scene showing he is talking to some other agents to go over the plot, but he sure does a lot more narrating than investigating.
- Family Matters – There are several players involved in the tangled mafia story of Hitters. The important ones come from three different families. The head (Don was never used) of the organization Jake and his hothead son Vince (Joey DePinto). Tony (Costas Mandylor) is the Italian restaurant owner trying to be a legitimate business man but caught in the mafia mess and really only wants to protect his children and beautiful wife Marie (Carol Alt). And most importantly, Nick (Robert Davi) is recently released from prison and trying to deal with a mob that had some of his family members killed
- World’s Most Dangerous Parking Lots – One of the major plot points in Hitters is Vince trying to get parking lots from Tony. I never thought I would enjoy a movie that dealt with so much parking lot talk, but Hitters proved me wrong. Of course, all the property transaction talk is helped by illegal activities and murders. See ya, Tony’s dad!
- Bear It All – Speaking of illegal activities, you better believe Hitters has some mafiosos burning down a business of one of the rivals. This time it is Vince burning down a bar owned by Nick. A bar that features a dancing bear. A bear that gets loose during the arson and comes running out of the bar while comedic music is playing.
- Team Up – With Vince getting more violent, Nick and Tony are forced to team up. Tony is actually pretty popular because the FBI are also interested in getting him to inform on Vince and Co. Tony makes the same choice I would, Robert Davi all day.
- I Was Told Herbie Hancock Was In This Movie – I don’t know who told me that, but they were correct. Albeit he is only in the movie for a few minutes and maybe only has one line as a district attorney. But still, props for “Rockit”.
- Bare It All – After an unnecessary six month time jump (except we get an update on the bear), the action really starts to pick up in Hitters. It doesn’t get more action than a shootout at a topless bar owned by Nick. He needed to pay more attention to the bartenders he hired as a bartender played by that bastard Ron Jeremy tries to set him up to get shot.
- Grand Finale – A kidnapping at the end of Hitters sets up an explosive finale filled with more illegal activities, namely murder. There is a quality little twist at the end that shows the power of the mob.
Hitters made me keep rooting for the bad guys. I suppose Tony is the clean one, but Robert Davi as Nick is just too damn cool. He owns one bar with a dancing bear and another with women dancing bare. He acts circles around the rest of the cast and makes Hitters worth watching in my book. If you need a few more reasons to watch, check out these Hitters Bonus Bullet Points.
- Familiar Faces – Frank Stallone plays probably the second best mob member next to Robert Davi. And speaking of famous brothers, Louis Mandylor has a small role as a detective.
- Fighting Stereotypes – Early on, a priest has a meeting with Nick at his strip club and the priest doesn’t seem too disappointed as he gets an eyeful of the dancers.
- Unicorn Story – Frank D’Amico plays Tommy Capris and he tells a mildly amusing story throughout several scenes about the confusion between a unicorn and a unicycle. It is mildly interesting that the story got its own credit at the end as being based on the comedy of Frank D’Amico.
