Prizzi's Honor (1985) ****

One of John Huston's final films is a mob/love story/dark comedy that falls like a set of well placed dominoes. Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Partanna, a middle man in the Prizzi crime organization who becomes instantly obsessed with a woman named Irene (Kathleen Turner) at a wedding. Days later he winds up in Los Angeles looking for a large sum of money that had been stolen from the family and ends up whacking Irene's estranged husband. They meet again and quickly fall in love, but Charlie doesn't know that Irene is also a "contractor" who had been in town to pull a hit. The missing money, a kidnapping gone astray, and a jealous lover (Angelica Huston) end up turning this romance into a one debacle after another.

The acting in Prizzi's Honor is great. Nicholson shows his chops once again, playing the not so bright Brooklyn criminal. At first it's shocking to hear Jack talk like this, but it quickly grows and becomes a stellar performance. Kathleen Turner's performance as Irene is laid back without the over acting that Turner has been known to perform. Of course Angelica Huston one an Oscar for this one, but there are two other actors that need some praise. The first is William Hickey as the Don, a shocking turn for someone who is usually an unpleasant old man. The second is John Randolph as Charlie's father. Randolph also pulls off the Brooklyn accent and is fabulous when he's on screen. Hickey and Randolph would team up again in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Huston doesn't feel like a dinosaur directing this film. It's more modern than some of his younger brethren were producing at the time, yet there's a timeless quality to it. It could be the fifties and it could be present day under his direction. Prizzi's Honor stands as one of the last notches in John Huston's storied career and shows that he was able to adapt to the times and still be relevant in the film business. A great flick from a legend.