Where to watch Keeper of the City
1 1/2 Stars
A mad killer is murdering the mafia bosses of Chicago. Jim Dela is the cop investigating the crimes and thus gets into contact with Vickie Benedetto who is the wife of Vince, a psychotic man who hates his father’s mafia past.
I became aware of Keeper of the City when my grandfather, who was tasked with watching me for the evening, took me to the video store when I was a kid. Over the Top was my selection, while Papa picked out Keeper of the City. My grandfather stated that he chose the film because of Louis Gossett Jr. and the plot synopsis on the back of the VHS box. Outside of that recollection, I have no memory of the film itself. Thirty years later, I’ve decided to screen the movie to see if I can determine if my late grandfather would have enjoyed it.
Louis Gossett Jr., following the similarly themed The Punisher, once again plays a cop looking for a vigilante preying on Chicago’s Mafia bosses. Anthony LaPaglia, an Aussie thespian perpetually assigned to play Italians, is a mentally unstable grandma’s boy who’s obsessed with writing a tell-all book on NYC mafia bosses. Tony Todd, aka Candyman, makes a brief appearance as Gossett Jr.’s colleague, and the film could have used more scenes between the two hard-working actors.
The writing is the weak link in this chain. The script strands the capable actors featured while placing their characters in illogical situations that require the performers to spout stilted dialogue. The direction is serviceable but unremarkable. Keeper of the City is a disappointment; even when viewed through a haze of nostalgia, I couldn’t force myself to ‘like’ the movie, and I feel my Papa would agree.
Directed by: Bobby Roth
Written by: Gerald Di Pego
Starring: Louis Gossett Jr., Anthony LaPaglia, Peter Coyote