Monument Ave.

1998
6.6| 1h33m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 September 1998 Released
Producted By: Clinica Estetico
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Bobby O'Grady is a low level member of a Boston Irish gang run by Jackie O'Hara. Jackie demands absolute, total loyalty to him. When Jackie kills one of Bobby's buddies, Teddy, Bobby and others have to keep it an absolute secret, even from their and Teddy's relatives.

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Crime

Watch Online

Monument Ave. (1998) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Ted Demme

Production Companies

Clinica Estetico

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
Monument Ave. Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Monument Ave. Audience Reviews

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.
BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
NateWatchesCoolMovies I decided to take a looky-loo at Ted Demme's Monument Avenue for a couple different reasons. I unconditionally love Denis Leary, in comedy, in drama, in sickness (the dude smokes a lot), in health, til one more crappy Spider Man movie do us part. The man is just a tornado of stinging energy and machismo that you just don't see in cinema much these days. He paves his body of work with snappy scenarios of hilarity derived from his standup work, and then once in a while will floor me with a focused, expertly delivered dramatic scene brimming with gravitas and emotion, feeling earned and special because we don't get to see that from him all too often. I had also just connived US Netflix selection again and it popped up in my queue, catching my eye, being one I've always meant to watch but never got around to it. Director Ted Demme has made one of my favourite films ever, The Ref also with Leary. I just really enjoy seedy Boston set crime films, whether they're bombastic (The Departed), restrained (Mystic River) or cartoonish (The Boondocks Saints). Monument Avenue reigns things way, way in for an intimate look at a few close friends from Southie who have grown up together in the neighbourhood. Bobby O Grady (Leary) is a deadbeat small time car thief whose life is headed straight for the dumps, along with longtime chum Mouse (Ian Hart, Professor Quirrell from Harry Potter!!) and young cousin Seamus (Jason Berry), visiting from Dublin and putting himself in real danger of falling into their inescapable life style. The opening scenes of them simply hanging out, doing coke and shooting the breeze have a scary realism with both dialogue and performance, and I was reminded uncomfortably of many nights in my own life that followed a similar pattern. The three of them are forced to contend with two faced, especially nasty crime boss Jackie O Hara (Colm Meaney, a portrait of seething evil) who blatantly murders a recently paroled underling (Billy Crudup, uncharacteristically manic) in a crowded bar room. Now, in the badder areas of Boston there is an unspoken code among the locals that you don't divulge anything to the police, even if you witness a crime dead cold, and even if you'd love to see the perpetrator get caught. It's a stupid set of principles that I disagree with, as does Detective Hanlon (Martin Sheen), a fired up investigator who fumes at the Irish way of shunning the law and avidly seeks the truth. Sheen makes compelling work of a standard role, a firecracker performance that gives Leary a run for his money, especially in a third act exchange of burning dialogue that is a career highlight for both. This is one of the most 'anti crime' crime films I've ever seen, not shrouding its feelings on the futility of such a life and the bloody dead ends and broken lives it spawns for a moment. Leary is quietly ferocious at times and passionately ballistic in others, and there's barely a comedic note in his angry, confused, all together brilliant performance. It's surprising to see Dutch girl Famke Janssen as a hard bitten Southie girl, but she gives it her all as the gang boss's girl who is clearly in love with Leary. Luminous Jeanne Tripplehorn has a nice cameo as a 'yuppie girl', and the great Noah Emmerich is also on fire as another member of Leary's little posse. Director Demme occasionally intercuts candid photos, sans music, from happier times in the character's youthful days, showing them as innocent canvases that the town itself and their bad decisions haven't had a chance to stain yet. It's a hard hitting tactic that drives home the films lament on the tragedy of a life dedicated to crime and degeneracy. A surprisingly little seen crime drama, but one with a point that needs to be made and a refreshing lack of any glorification of 'the life'. Highly recommended.
Ouchywawa1136265 I grew up in this town of Charlestown a very strong irish neighborhood people here call themselves townies. The movie Monument Ave. is about the code of silence this town went through. Its very much like it but there were many more murders and alot more police arrests. Boston wanted to break the Irish Catholic clout in Charlestown and open the town up to new cultures, it never happened but since 2000 the town is only 93% Irish-Townie catholic. Monument Ave. was a very good movie and it explained what it was like here but it was much more violent. Charlestown was and still is a very dangerous town. Like in the movie brothers were killing brothers and people killing each other knowing that people would not tell that they did this, sex and drugs was involved in this alot too. Racism and Loyalty and doing inappropriate things like robbing, shooting, stabbing fighting, drinking etc. was a big thing here to. Kids around Charlestown (Townies) made a book about this called The Piece of Peace. There was 149 murders during the code of silence in Charlestown. Monument Ave. is a good explanation of what happened here. Thats what it was really like. Not like "Southie" which is nothing compared to Charlestown. But Monument Ave. was an exellent movie!
jonpar Monument Avenue is a familiar story that has been done before. However, this film really works due to the fine acting and directing. Ted Demme does an outstanding job developing the characters through his his long and sometimes drawn out dialogue scenes. The cast of Dennis Leary and Famke Janssen are extremely convincing and really make this film better than most of it's kind. Perhaps the small, almost cameo roles played by stars Billy Crudup, Martin Sheen and Jeanne Tripplehorn are what really make this film worth seeing. This is a perfect example of how good directing and acting can make a big difference on a common and somewhat predictable script.
Kikilunet The only reason I saw this movie, or so I thought, was because Jason Barry (whose performance in Titanic and Circle of Friends I liked but wanted to see more) was in it. This was a great movie, considering I don't really like R rated movies. The plot moves along, and I understood it. The visual aspect was not anything to say "wow" about, but I enjoyed the movie. But it is certainly not a child's movie, and I was a bit shocked they would show three characters actually doing drugs. The language was a bit much, and the violence was slightly shocking, but in the end I think that it was a good movie. Especially the end scene, Denis Leary's character looking at slides, his cousin (Seamus O'Grady, played by Barry) in one of them. Very nice, but rather intense for my tastes.