Review of ‘Jersey Bred’: A midly entertaining but mostly tedious crime drama

Review of ‘Jersey Bred’: Crime pays for those who are smart

Cast: Chris Tardio, Lorenzo Antonucci, Lucas Salvagno, Gino Cafarelli, Anthony Desio, Sonny Marinelli, Christopher Mormando, Kelly-Ann Tursi, Jeremy Luke, Patrick Borriello, Anthony Martini, Stevie Guttmann, Giani Russo, Sophia Del Rio, Delilah Cotto

Critic’s Rating: 2.5 Stars out of 5

Director: Greg Russo

Duration: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Genre: Crime, Action, Drama

Language: English 

Release: 2024

What’s it about?

A criminal computer whizz finds his operations threatened by an old enemy who is out for revenge and power.

Review:

Viewers are in for an intriguing little crime drama, populated with interesting characters in a convoluted but moderately satisfying plot. Jersey Bred boasts adequate substance in the form of thriving criminal operations, personal vendettas, shifting loyalties and vengeance – all guaranteed to sustain the audience’s attention. While perhaps not a classic, this movie proves to be a minor success at exploring the criminal mind and showing how avarice and emotion can determine one’s fate.

The film’s protagonist and New Jersey native Vincent Napolitano (Chris Tardio) uses his computer smarts to run a profitable gambling operation. Indeed, his use of wire rooms, paper heads and encrypted currency enables him to fly under the radar of two FBI agents (Christopher Mormando and Kelly-Ann Tursi) who are determined to bring him down. However, the Big Vincent is also plagued by the spectre of a violent incident from his adolescence which resulted in the arrest of a close associate named Anthony (Lorenzo Antonucci). Now, many years later, Vincent is on the verge of closing a huge real estate deal in Florida. 

This criminal’s lucrative ventures include the participation of Little Vincent (Lucas Salvagno), Jimmy (Gino Cafarelli) and Pizza Joe (Anthony Desio), all of whom he trusts implicitly. However, his money-spinning businesses also catch the fancy of two other big hoods who want a piece of the action and a share of the profits. One is the veteran mob bigwig Sal “Uncle Sal” Rosa (Sonny Marinelli) and the other just happens to be Anthony. The latter bears a grudge against Vincent for abandoning him during their botched felony several years earlier and for which he had to serve a long jail term. 

Uncle Sal who sees the tremendous potential in partnering with Vincent tries to persuade Anthony into forgiving Vincent. Meanwhile, Vincent needs top gambler Chucky Levine (Anthony Martini) to help bankroll a new redevelopment opportunity in Miami. Against his better judgement and out of seething spite, Anthony starts disrupting Vincent’s many ventures, much to the chagrin of Uncle Sal. What follows is a game of second-guessing, side-switching, conspiracy and bloodshed. What’s more, will the wily Pizza Joe betray Vincent to save his own skin?

Producer-writer-director Greg Russo has crafted a captivating crime yarn here, juxtaposing family and faithfulness with the machinations of gangsterdom. Top production values, including textured and varied cinematography are incorporated in this flick, as well as a sharp script and mostly decent acting. However, the abundance of characters and their respective motivations are a tad hard to follow. A classic case of too many cooks. Also, reminders of Anthony’s resentment of Vincent, gets repetitive and tedious. Nevertheless, Jersey Bred will not totally disappoint crime-movie fans while even having something to offer those who aren’t. At best this crime drama is midly entertaining but mostly tedious.