Brooklyn RulesMovie Reviews

So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 53 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    New York Daily News | Jack Mathews

    Michael Corrente's Brooklyn Rules takes him to the mean streets of Gotti country, circa 1985, and it's another gem. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    An entertaining film that's true to its world. Read full review

  • 63
    TV Guide | Maitland McDonagh

    Baldwin dominates the screen with his slick, beefy swagger, and if Prinze is less than convincing as a kid from Brooklyn, Caan and Ferrara nail Carmine and Bobby with such assured economy that it hardly matters they're one-note roles. Read full review

  • 63
    Miami Herald | Connie Ogle

    It's not quite layered or weighty enough to fill the aching hole left in our psyches by the end of "The Sopranos," and most of the developments are as obvious as sauce on spaghetti. Still, Brooklyn Rules is a decent, if derivative, movie. Read full review

  • 60
    New York Magazine (Vulture) | David Edelstein

    Baldwin is so good in the coming-of-age gangster drama Brooklyn Rules that it's like watching a voodoo priest. Read full review

  • 58
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The boys-in-the-Italian-hood clichés were penned by "Sopranos" scribe Terence Winter, so they have snap, if not freshness. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    The writing in Brooklyn seems even more generic. An excessive use of voice-over narration is a sure sign of a failure of dramatization. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Not as bad as Bobby's mother's lasagna, neither is Brooklyn Rules anywhere near the best you've ever had, though at times, it may remind you of it. Read full review

  • 38
    New York Post | Lou Lumenick

    The kind of movie that cries out for the fast-forward button. Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    Too many cliches and not enough energy have come along for the ride. Read full review

View more reviews for Brooklyn Rules on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Predictable mob movie is too violent for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this violent mobster movie isn't meant for kids, despite the fact that it stars Scooby-Doo's Freddie Prinze, Jr. Foul language is non-stop (mostly "f--k," with other swear words and derogatory/racist terms like "queer" and "gook" thrown in for good measure), and frequent mafia violence includes beatings, stabbings, bloody shootings, and more. In an especially brutal scene, a gangster cuts off another man's ear with a meat-slicer as the protagonist watches (and gets splattered with blood in the process). Characters drink, smoke (a lot), cheat, steal, and gamble; sexual content isn't too bad for an R-rating, but there's a non-explicit oral sex scene and two amorous encounters in cars.
  • Families can talk about how Hollywood portrays mobsters. Does the media glamorize or romanticize the mafia? How and why? Do you think real mob life is as consistently violent as it's presented on screen? What makes these characters and their lifestyle so appealing? Is there anything admirable about them? How do the boys in the movie find moral role models in gangsters, even if they know they are, in Michael's words, "horrible" men?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The film takes a nostalgic angle on memories of the New York mafia in the mid-'80s. The protagonist (who's the film's least pathological character) cheats in school, sees beatings and murders, drinks heavily, breaks an adversary's nose, and pursues a rival in order to execute him. Gangster characters are typically violent, greedy, and, in their own way, loyal.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Frequent beatings and fights (punching, furniture throwing, kicking), with bloody injuries, broken noses, and cut faces; boys find a body with bloody holes in its head; a Vietnam war veteran shows the souvenir ear on his neck; a crew of thugs beats a man, then cuts off his ear in a meat-slicing machine (off screen, with much screaming, moaning, and blood splattering); shootings/executions leave a couple of protagonists with bloody holes in their chests; villain is beaten and shot.
  • sex false3 Sexy stuff: Repeated sexual slang (references to "broads," "chicks," "c--ks," "p---y," "blow job"); oral sex in a car; romantic kissing; sex between romantic couple is implied, with a post-sex scene showing her bare shoulders as she lies on top of him.
  • language false5 Language: Tons of profanity, including more than 100 "f--k"s (several with "mother"), as well as multiple uses of "s--t," "a--hole," "hell," and "c--ksucker," plus other language ("jerk-off," "douchebag," "scumbag"), derogatory words ("queer"), and racist terms ("gook").
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Marlboro cigarettes, reference to Häagen-Dazs, and many time-setting pop cultural references, including Keith Partridge, Fred MacMurray, My Three Sons, Brigadoon, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Back to the Future, Psychology Today, Tom Brokaw, Pac-Man, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and Wheel of Fortune.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Frequent cigarette smoking, especially by Carmine and Cesar; drinking and drunkenness at parties and in bars.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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