Robin Wright Penn Movie:

Editorial Review:
Overshadowed by GoodFellas when it was released in 1990, State of Grace gradually emerged as one of the best New York gangster films of its decade. It was also the first to feature the Irish American mob known as the Westies. Here, their territory west of Times Square is being gentrified by an unwelcome infusion of yuppie cash, squeezing them into a reluctant alliance with Mafia kingpins. Frankie (Ed Harris) is the boss; little brother Jackie (Gary Oldman) is his volatile muscle; their friend Terry (Sean Penn) has returned from an extended absence, harboring a dangerous secret while rekindling his love for Frankie and Jackie's sister Kathleen (Robin Wright, Penn's future wife). Giving one of his scariest, most violent performances, Oldman offers stark, brutal contrast to Harris's pent-up fury, while Penn breathes life into his character's standard-issue dilemma. A former protégé of Steven Spielberg's, director Phil Joanou handles this gritty potboiler with confident, unobtrusive style, ramping up the tension of divided loyalties, even as the plot grows increasingly familiar. --Jeff Shannon

State of Grace [Region 2] Reviews:
Fast service
2009-08-31 - This brand new DVD was sent faster than I expected. Great service from this distributor. An excellent movie too, by the way, if you've never seen State of Grace with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman.

Since Phil Joanou...
2009-08-12 - ...was a 'protege' of Steven Spielberg, he should have been taught that slow-motion is something to be used when it's useful, and not (ab)used to make up for his shortcomings (and making the movie unnecessarily longer). Mr. Joanou should be very grateful to the stars, since he owes to them not to get a "0", since his own work (?) will get me seeing nothing more from him (unless he learns something about his trade, which I doubt he can do). And I think too that Mr. Spielberg should know better than to sponsor any jerk who should have kept making TV crap (sorry for the redundancy), for which I deem this Joanou is very well suited.

A Great One With A Great Story, Great Actors and Great Action!
2009-02-26 - As an Irishman I love anything about the Irish, especially in NY where my family is from! This is a great movie and is based kind of on the story about the fall of the Irish mafia in New York, and is very close, as it was one of there own who brought them down in NY!

Sean Penn is great, John Turturro is always cool and very good, Ed Harris is a favorite actor of mine and he is outstanding and so darn cold as the Irish mafia leader, and finally Gary Oldman is my favorite actor in all of movies and entertainment, and he is so very cool as Jackie, the brother and enforcer to Ed Harris's character in the movie!

This is a great one and if you like mob movies, action, gunfights, a cool story and great actors, then this is for you! I recomend this one to everyone!

State Of Grace...
2009-01-18 - I wasn't really expecting to overly enjoy this movie when I bought it. I love Gary Oldman but I'm not too crazy about movies on the subject matter. After watching it I've got to say that my only complaint is the length: I can't sit still that long! I had to split the movie into two separate viewings. Gary Oldman was, as expected, fantastic. His Jackie was the most interesting and intriguing of the characters (even beating out Sean Penn's Terry, the hero of the piece) and really steals the show. But Sean Penn, Robin Wright (not yet Penn) and Ed Harris all gave good roles. And a few people might be interested in seeing John C. Reilly pre-Will Ferrel.

Great movie
2008-10-07 - This is a great mob/gangster movie with a great cast. Surprisingly, it has been largely overlooked. In fact, I had never even heard of it until I saw it on IFC in 2008, 18 years after it was released!

This movie also has a lot of similarities with The Departed. I am surprised few have noted the similarities:

*The Irish Mob.
*The demented Irish Mob "Godfather," played by Ed Harris.
*The undercover cop who was affiliated with the gang, left, became an officer, went undercover, and then returned.
*The love interest with a person close to the undercover officer's friend.