CIFF: Chicago Overcoat

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 8, 2009 5:20PM

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival.

Southside. Mafia. Lou is an aging member of the Chicago outfit. He hasn't made a hit since 1986. The glory days are over and he's been reduced to collecting on neighborhood shakedowns. A three-person job comes his way. He takes it. One last hit. Enough money to provide a future for his divorced daughter and her son. And enough for him to retire to Vegas. But the targets involved are bigger fish than Lou can imagine.

You can guess the rest because you've encountered these people before. From a chiseling politician and a crooked cop to Lou's old flame Lorraine, every character in Chicago Overcoat is a stereotype you've seen in other movies, doing exactly what they did in all those other movies. The story moves swiftly and smoothly to its forgone conclusion. Does that make it formulaic or fatalistic?

We have to admit that this kind of movie just isn't up our alley. Decades of cinematic machismo fueled by testosterone, with the attendant blood-splattered gun battles and chewy tough guy slang, have left us cold. But at least the stereotypes on display in Chicago Overcoat are full-throated, and they're put across with undeniable gusto by old pros like Frank Vincent (from The Sopranos) and Danny Goldring. The movie treats its careworn clichés with an absolute sincerity that's almost refreshing. Nobody has their tongue in their cheeks on this one. Kudos also to Kevin Moss for his cinematography. Autumnal Chicago hasn't looked this sleek since The Dark Knight, and a variety of evocative locations (most notably West Lake Street and Italian Village) are used to great effect. So it is what is. Fans of The Funeral and The Boondock Saints will eat this up.

Chicago Overcoat screens October 10 (sold out), 11 and 19.