“American Cousins” is a crime drama film about two New Jersey mafia guys forced to hide out with their Scottish-Italian cousin in Glasgow due to a deal in Europe that went sour. This unexpectedly nuanced film from Scottish director Dan Coutts, in his first job at the helm of a major motion picture, has an excellent screenplay by Sergio Casci. It quickly transcends the expected culture-clash theme and blossoms to a family relational thing, with a love story subplot.
The excellent cast is headed by Gerald Lepkowski and Shirley Henderson. They have wonderful chemistry in their performances as the Scottish cousin Roberto and Alice, his restaurant employee. Dan Hedaya and Danny Nucci play the American cousins, with the cast rounded out by Russell Hunter, Olegar Fedoro, Stephen Graham, Stevan Rimkus, and Vincent Pastore (Salvatore of “The Sopranos” fame) in an impressive extended cameo appearance.
The watchable “American Cousins” was released directly to DVD by producer Margaret Matheson and Paramount Pictures.
American Cousins (2003)
cinema
My Review
“American Cousins” is a crime drama film about two New Jersey mafia guys forced to hide out with their Scottish-Italian cousin in Glasgow due to a deal in Europe that went sour. This unexpectedly nuanced film from Scottish director Dan Coutts, in his first job at the helm of a major motion picture, has an excellent screenplay by Sergio Casci. It quickly transcends the expected culture-clash theme and blossoms to a family relational thing, with a love story subplot.
The excellent cast is headed by Gerald Lepkowski and Shirley Henderson. They have wonderful chemistry in their performances as the Scottish cousin Roberto and Alice, his restaurant employee. Dan Hedaya and Danny Nucci play the American cousins, with the cast rounded out by Russell Hunter, Olegar Fedoro, Stephen Graham, Stevan Rimkus, and Vincent Pastore (Salvatore of “The Sopranos” fame) in an impressive extended cameo appearance.
The watchable “American Cousins” was released directly to DVD by producer Margaret Matheson and Paramount Pictures.