tysonatthemovies I completely disagree with the below comments. This film was stellar. I have been searching for a compelling film with the subject of the Irish mob. This movie is suspenseful without glorifying mob violence. The main actors portraying the sons of a once powerful figure in the Irish mob seems pretty authentic. The mob action is good. Also, despite the fact that this seems to be a lower budget independent film, there are high production values. The gritty lighting of the movie helped set the tone. The only real weakness I can think of is that there is not a sequel or a prequel showing Francis Sullivan's past life. That would make for a good mob movie. One plot question I had was how Sean Sullivan had money to just live in Texas, then again he did get a job as a farmer out there. All of the supporting cast portray their characters with low key class, which makes their performances seem quite believable. The musical score was good, and the soundtrack of early eighties rock provided excellent time period setting markers.

Leonore What do you get when you combine inane dialogue, a lackluster plot, half-developed characters, and a terrible musical score? Ash Wednesday. The film had potential to be at least mediocre, but it just didn't work. The film was based around a weak, predictable plot that was filled with glaring plot-holes, and the characters and relationships were too underdeveloped to even make the film a character-driven story. Characters wander in and out of the plot without ever gathering much sympathy or hatred from audiences, and eventually it becomes difficult to care what happens to any of them. Even their dialogue is pitiful: swearing is fine in movies, but this film goes beyond overkill with its ridiculous amount of profanity, even to the point where it becomes distracting. Rather than encouraging viewers to listen for meaning in the characters' words, this film's dialogue quickly becomes a game of seeing just how many variations of the "F word" can be jammed into a single sentence. Just in case the film itself isn't horrible enough, the musical score is also horrendous. It has some sort of bizarre attempt at a musical motive, but it is annoyingly repetitive and changes little from scene to scene. When the film finally limps into its unsatisfying conclusion, those few who managed to sit all the way through it will be wishing that they hadn't wasted 98 minutes of their lives suffering through this film.

David I never understood what the big deal about Edward Burns was about. I mean, he surely is likable, but none of his writer-director-actor-ventures have amazed me at all. Given the right role he can do a convincing and entertaining job, but for me, that's about it."Ash Wednesday" isn't really a disaster, but it feels as if it was close to becoming one. All the way the movie feels only halfway good or bad, always going along a thin line of ambiguous quality. In the end (and especially in the final scene) the bad qualities win and the movie leaves you deeply unsatisfied.Fran (Edward Burns) lives above a bar in Hell's Kitchen. He once was a crook, but has now become "clean", which means he has a job (of which we don't see a lot) and, well, doesn't seem to kill a lot of people anymore. Three years ago his brother Shaun (Elijah Wood) killed some guys who wanted to kill Fran and vanished afterwards, presumably being dead. But now people are talking about him reappearing in the neighborhood and Fran has to deal with the rumors and his old enemies.I don't even know if this sounds interesting enough to watch the movie. When I saw it, I had no clue what it was about and maybe that was the reason it slightly intrigued me at first. But the fascination didn't last long, especially once you realize that Burns will spend a lot of time of the movie running around town talking to people. Which wouldn't be that bad, but if you listen to the dialog you realize that it gets rather repetitious.I didn't count but there must be at least 5 conversations that develop in exactly the same way. Somebody tells Fran his brother is supposed to be alive after all, he denies it, the other one doesn't believe it, both go on. This isn't the most exciting idea of communication in the first place and various instances of it doesn't make it better, but if, in addition to that, those conversations are put together so that one just follows another for half an hour, it gets rather frustrating.What is even more irritating is the complete lack of suspense here. How can any viewer seriously believe that Shaun is really dead? We're talking Elijah Wood here and that makes it pretty much 100% certain that he will sooner or later turn up in the movie again. The only point of suspense could come from the question whether Fran knows his brother is alive or not. But that's about it.And that's about much of the movie too. It takes about 30 minutes till we find out what's the deal with the dead brother. From then on nothing of importance seems to happen. There are a lot of guys who want to kill both brothers. There is Shaun's supposed widow/wife and a priest who knows a lot. All of the roles are thankless. Elijah Wood has to deliver a monologue during which may wonder if he can't deliver it convincingly or if it is written so bad that no one could deliver it. I think it's a bit of both, but the scene is either way painful to watch. Oliver Platt is also in this movie, but there is simply nothing to say about him or his role. Same goes for Rosario Dawson who..., well is just there.David Shire's music follows Burns' character for his first half of repeating the same dialog by repeating the same theme over and over again. The movie looks pale and dry, almost lifeless. There is some editing, especially in the final scene, that is inexcusable. Religious symbolism floats through the movie, looking for a place to make sense (again, especially in the last shot). The use of the F-word is so excessive, you wonder if the characters get a bonus for every time they use it. And there is one flashback scene (apart from the first one) that is as pointless as pointless can be.And then there is the end. We get a rather conventional shootout finale and think, well, that's a fine way to end a movie, even if it's not really good. But then come the last shots and it completely destroys a movie which wasn't particularly good anyway. The ending gives you no satisfaction, no sense of righteousness or penance, nothing. In the end, there is nothing really appealing to this film.

jotix100 Edward Burns' start in films with "The Brothers McMullan", heralded good things for this New York based director, who likes to depict his Irish background in his pictures. Unfortunately, his career has taken a southward detour. He hasn't done anything worthy of his talents in a while. Even with the uneven "Sidewalks of New York", he found a voice, while in "Ash Wednesday", he is doing it by the numbers.First of all, his story is supposedly based in a Hell's Kitchen that could only exists in the director's mind, as most of it is just a fantasy. Has Mr. Burns taken a tour of this part of town lately? Well, he'd be surprised in how gentrified and sophisticated it has become, quite a departure for the times when it was the turf of ethnic gangs of the 50s. For that matter, it would be hard to find a few good Irish people that are attracted to the area.Some spoilers herein.The plot is not well developed. It's hard to realize how stupid Sean is, knowing full well he is a marked man and going for a drink in the old 'hood... Oh well, he must had been suffering from cabin fever, or other similar ailment. Then, there is the story of the involvement of Francis with Grace, Sean's woman. Frances and Grace are evidently acting in two different movies as they have no chemistry. It's hard to believe these two had something going. Elijah Wood, as Sean, is badly out of place. He is totally miscast. For that matter, the director, himself, doesn't fare much better. Ms. Dawson, also, doesn't have anything to do. The assorted bad guys one sees in the film are just not believable. The other horrible thing this movie has going for it, is the silly musical theme of the few bars played on the piano. Better luck next time Mr. Burns, or perhaps on your next film why not give us an incisive view of the world of supermodels, or how can one make a lot of money in advertising since you are an expert in those fields lately?