‘Deuces’ wildly entertaining for all the wrong reasons

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In theaters

DEUCES WILD, directed by Scott Kalvert, written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, 97 minutes, rated R.

While it’s doubtful that Scott Kalvert intended to create an instant camp classic with his hilarious new film “Deuces Wild,” that’s nevertheless what he pulled off – and what a hoot.

Set on a Hollywood back lot – excuse me, set in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the summer of 1958 – the film is “West Side Story” without the songs, “The Lords of Flatbush” without the Fonz, “The Wanderers” without a map, a compass or its own way.

It’s a movie about two rival gangs whose swagger and strut are so incredibly exaggerated, what’s amazing about the film isn’t how bad it is, but that anyone here got through it without breaking a hip.

From start to bloody finish, “Deuces Wild” is an eye-popping exercise in excess and cliches, a melodramatic cheese ball festooned in black leather, white T-shirts and jeans that hits the screen with such misguided aplomb, it can’t help but eventually burst apart like a thoroughly whacked pi?ata.

In the film, the good-guy Deuces and the bad-guy Vipers come to throws when the Vipers decide they want to start selling drugs in the Deuces’ neighborhood. That’s a big no-no for the Deuces, who lost a member of their gang – a scrappy kid named Alley Boy – to a drug-related death three years before.

Alley Boy’s brother, Leon (Stephen Dorff), now king of the Deuces, is determined to avenge his brother’s death by making certain the Vipers don’t put a crack pipe and a bong in every home.

The problem for Leon and his crew of brass knuckleheads? The Vipers, as led by Jimmy Pockets (Balthazar Getty) and the freshly paroled Marco (Norman Reedus), are being bankrolled by the local mob boss, Fritzy (Matt Dillon), who is very comfortable with the idea that the neighborhood kiddies should be addicted to smack.

Toss into this mix a rape, some gang violence shot in slow motion, and a love affair between Leon’s brother Bobby (Brad Renfro) and a tough-as-tanks babe named Annie (Fairuza Balk) – who just happens to be a sister to one of the Vipers – and the tension, you can imagine, becomes enough to make these Deuces wild.

At my screening, there were moments when I was convinced I was seeing the film with a group of asthmatics – there were those who couldn’t stop gasping at the absurdity. Apparently, even MGM knows it’s dealing with a dog. “Deuces Wild” has been sitting on their shelves for two years. The fact that they waited to release it opposite “Spider-Man” says it all for how the studio itself views the movie.

Grade: D-

On video and DVD

OCEAN’S ELEVEN, directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Ted Griffin, 116 minutes, rated PG-13.

In a few short years, Steven Soderbergh has become his generation’s Robert Altman – it seems that everyone in Hollywood wants to work with him.

And who can blame them? After delivering “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic” and “The Limey” – not to mention “Out of Sight,” “sex, lies and videotape” and “Kafka” – the director’s appeal in an industry desperate for real talent such as his is at an all-time high.

In his latest film, a remake of Lewis Milestone’s 1960 Rat Pack caper, Soderbergh takes the original movie – which starred Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and others joining forces to rob five Vegas casinos – and downsizes the heist to three casinos: the MGM Grand, the Bellagio and the Mirage.

For Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his slick team of thieves (Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner among them), the job at hand is monumental, a heist that will net each person a piece of a $160 million pot.

Ocean’s motivation isn’t just the money; he wants to win back his ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), a pretty woman with a grumpy demeanor who’s currently fondling the tie and cufflinks of the casinos’ sleazy owner, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia).

A good deal of what ensues is lively and fun – particularly in the interplay between Clooney and Pitt, who are nicely paired. But with such an enormous cast, few are given the opportunity to leave a lasting impression, especially (and surprisingly) Roberts, who doesn’t appear until the film’s second hour and who barely registers even then.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith’s reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on Fridays on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Ocean’s Eleven ? B

Waking Life ? A

Ali ? B+

Not Another Teen Movie ? C-

Behind Enemy Lines ? C-

No Man’s Land ? A

Black Knight ? F

The Deep End ? A

Domestic Disturbance ? C

The Man Who Wasn’t There ?

B+

Mulholland Drive ? A

Spy Game ? C+

Bandits ? D

13 Ghosts ? F

Donnie Darko ? B

K-Pax ? B-

Life as a House ? C

Original Sin ? F

Our Lady of the Assassins ? B+

Riding in Cars with Boys ? B-

Training Day ? B-

Heist ? B+

Joy Ride ? B+

Zoolander ? C-

A.I. ? B-

The Last Castle ? C-

Sexy Beast ? B+

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

? F

The Musketeer ? D-

The Taste of Others ? A-

Don’t Say a Word ? C-

Hardball ? C+

O ? B+

Hearts in Atlantis ? B

Life Without Dick ? D

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ? D

Ghost World ? A

Lost & Delirious ? C-

Atlantis: The Lost Empire ? C

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

? B-

Lisa Picard is “Famous” ? B

Kiss of the Dragon ? B-

Rock Star ? B

American Pie 2 ? C+