HOODLUM & SON
2003

 

 

 

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Myles Jeffrey.... Archie Ellroy
Ted King (II).... Charlie Ellroy
Emily McArthur.... Alabama Lubitsch
Ron Perlman.... 'Ugly' Jim McCrae
Michael Richard.... Sheriff Duggan
Ian Roberts.... Earl
Mia Sara.... Ellen Heaven
Russel Savadier.... 'Four Eyes' Morton
Robert Vaughn.... Benny "The Bomb" Palladino

Written & Directed by Ashley Way

Production Company: Peakviewing Transatlantic PLC

 



Plot Summary

It's 1933... and mischevious ten year old Archie finds himself left in the care of his inattentive father, a reluctant gangster in debt to mob bosses Benny "The Bomb" Palladino and "Ugly" Jim McCrae. They flee with a suitcase of money to a dustbowl town where Charlie is forced into taking a "teaching" job as cover. Beautiful widowed mother, Ellen Heaven, takes offence to the new "teacher" and tries to get him thrown out of town. But Archie knows that they are really in love and enlists his new found friends to bring them together and save them from the revengeful mob bosses.

Ron Perlman as
"Ugly" Jim McCrae







Summary of "Hoodlum & Son" by Helen Chavez

Crisp camera-work, rich in detail, and a thoroughly personable cast offset a rather lacklustre storyline and a slightly weak script in a film by newcomer Ashley Way.

Filmed in South Africa, the film is nice to look at, and fun for the kiddies - a wisecracking hero, a great kid that's a refreshing change from the usual pain-in-the-butt kids in Hollywood movies, and a whole passel of fun villains battling it out for a pile of illegally-gained moolah.

Ted King and Myles Jeffries work well together, and Robert Vaughn is suitably menacing as arch-hoodlum Benny 'The Bomb' Palladino - but the true fun guy in this is Ron Perlman as upstart Irish hoodlum 'Ugly Jim' MacRae, all red hair, cigars, and the most incredibly loud clothes you've ever seen. Just a joy to watch.

Fun movie to keep the offspring happy on a wet Sunday afternoon.