That’s understandable in part because the original vault no longer exists, but also because it was little more than a visually unappealing glorified storeroom. Some of his deviations from historical accuracy are very wise: it helps the story to relocate the site of the robbery from its real location on the northern edge of South Providence to the city’s nicer looking and more picturesque downtown, with establishing shots of the landmark Turk’s Head Building and its Westminster Street plaza. That sort of confident directorial touch and attention to detail (and occasional Easter Egg) run throughout the film.ĭirector Tommy DeNucci told me “we’re not making a documentary,” and that’s an understatement. In one critical scene, Ouimette asks to be “made” a full member of the Patriarca Crime Family, and is told that will never happen because he has no Italian ancestry, explaining Ouimette’s hatred for the Italians whom he knew called him “that fucking Frenchman.” (Through the 1920s organized crime followed ethnic lines with separate enterprises for those of Italian, Irish, and Jewish backgrounds by the 1950s, the Italians had murdered enough of rival ethnicities to take firm control.) This is subtly referenced later in an ironic scene where Deuce watches the classic 1971 “People Start Pollution, People Can Stop It” television commercial featuring a crying Indian played by Iron Eyes Cody – who, it turned out, falsely claimed to be of Native American Cherokee and Cree ancestry although he was actually a full-blooded Italian. Patriarca down to his mannerisms and distinctive staccato speaking style Patriarca would say literally anything in the same emotionless tone, speaking just a bit more slowly than anyone else likely would, deliberately making it impossible to tell whether he was pleased or angry, something he consciously exploited to unnerve those to whom he spoke. Chazz Palmintieri is an eerie Raymond L.S. Don Johnson as Gerry Ouimette in Vaultĭon Johnson is a chilling Gerry Ouimette, especially when his usual smile is traded for a momentary flash of anger. Especially if you know nothing about the real history of the robbery, the film is a gripping crime caper with larger-than-life personalities, evoking a bygone era of romanticized mafiosi, wise guys, and “made men” that dominated organized crime – and it makes a plausible case for why that era ended as discipline broke down, the code of silence was successfully eroded by the feds, and organized crime became, for lack of a better word, disorganized. Samira Wiley in the role of Karyn, Deuce’s girlfriend, turns in an Oscar-worthy performance. Historical criticism aside, detailed below, Vault is highly entertaining. They’re a great team, with the hotheaded Chucky often hiring the methodical Deuce to plan and execute complicated tasks – such as the Hudson Bonded Vault robbery. In the lead roles, Theo Rossi as Robert “Deuce” Dussault and Clive Standen as Charles “Chucky” Flynn are charming petty criminals who have known each other since their teenage years. Clive Standen as Charles “Chucky” Flynn and Theo “Rossi as Robert “Deuce” Dussault in Vault News footage, both real and simulated from the non-existent Providence “Channel 7,” opens the film. The classic cars, including a Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Camaro SS, were a treat. Seeing a coin-operated, rotary-dial telephone in a booth was a hoot. On the other hand, the accuracy of the sets and costumes was impressive, down to the ridiculous but historically accurate brown uniforms of the Providence Police, part of a misguided effort to make the cops seem more friendly. On the one hand, I felt really old at the premiere at the Showcase Cinema Warwick on June 6 because I seemed to be one of the few present who was alive during the 1970s, let alone remembered the decade. It’s well worth seeing on the big screen while it runs at the Showcase in Providence and Warwick. The acting is superb, the script is tight, and the production values are high, but ultimately Vault is a love letter to Providence as it was in the 1970s. The heist netted an estimated $31 million of loot from organized criminals who stored it in private safety deposit boxes. There are a lot of things to like in Vault, the new crime film about the legendary 1975 Hudson Bonded Vault robbery from director Tommy DeNucci and producer Chad Verdi.
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