Wise Gal [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

When I first saw previews for Wisegal I knew that I wanted to see it. It had a great cast and a great storyline. Turns out it was better than what I thought it would be. Alyssa Milano gives a great performance throughout the movie and she really "sells" her character. If you like Lifetime movies OR Alyssa Milano then I think you'll like this movie.

Short Storyline: Patty's (Alyssa Milano) husband dies and she doesn't know how to support her family anymore. She meets a guy who is in the mob which she doesn't know at first. She needs money to support her family so she goes to work for him. Throughout the movie Patty learns more and more about the mob and the guy that she doesn't like until finally she tries to get out. Watch the movie to see if Patty can make it out of the mob...

Again I thought this was an excellent movie and the acting was amazing.

When I saw this DVD on the shelf at the video store, I thought "Oh, a mob movie starring Alyssa Milano, James Caan, and some guy I've never heard of. Cool". I read the description on the back of the DVD which basically describes Milano's character as a widowed mother who takes an opportunity to work with the mob in order to support her children. Since I knew nothing about this film, I checked the rating and saw that it was 'Not Rated', which doesn't mean a whole lot. It could either be really violent and bloody or it could be a children's movie for all I knew. Hoping that it would be the former, I took a chance with it and decided to get the movie. Well, I should have read a little bit closer... it turns out that WISEGAL is a Lifetime Television movie that was shown on Cable early in 2008 and now released on DVD. If you don't know what Lifetime is... do you know the channel that your mom or grandma (or wife, depending on how old you are) sits on the couch and watches religiously that has all of those corny Dramas usually featuring a female in the lead role? That's Lifetime.

I figured since I already got the movie I may as well watch it. It turns out that overall it actually isn't that bad. I mean, Alyssa Milano is drop dead gorgeous and is the reason I got it in the first place. She actually is the leading woman in the movie and it isn't a case of her making a cameo and having her name and face plastered on the front cover in order to trick people into watching it like other movies do (not necessarily with Milano, but with any established actor or actress starring in a B-Movie). Alyssa's character in the film is hired by a mob boss (James Caan) to basically serve as someone who smuggles a bunch of cash from Canada back into American soil on a regular basis, with the payoff being that her and her kids will be taken care of for the rest of their lives. She's also involved with another mob guy who she met at a funeral home after he husband died, and there's a bunch of drama with that relationship. He's married, has a kid who's dealing drugs and might be an influence on HER two kids, yada yada yada.

Overall, it wasn't a bad movie. However, it's just not my thing and I did have a few problems with it. For one, the dialogue was extremely dumb and cheesy. For example, there was a line in the movie that made me actually go back and watch it a second time just to make sure I didn't hear what I THOUGHT I heard. Alyssa's character is talking to an FBI agent, when the agent says something along the lines of "your husband was a good man". Alyssa's character replies "He gave me a sandwich. It's the first time anyone's ever given me anything". Huh???? And secondly, every single character in the movie personifies the stereotype of an Italian mobster which is a bit annoying after a while.

The DVD has a short Behind the Scenes featurette which doesn't even really have any interviews with cast and crew, and is basically footage of the production set to background music.

Unless you watch the Lifetime Channel and are into those kinds of movies, then I wouldn't recommend WISEGAL at all. And since it is essentially a Made-for-Television movie, don't expect any grittiness, adult language, violence, or nudity. It's not so much a "Mob movie" as it as about Alyssa Milano's character. Not a horrible movie, just not what I was expecting at all and ultimately not a movie I want to see again.

2 stars

I admit I had my doubts for this but Alyssa Milano really surprised me for her role in this film. I thought this movie was decent enough to earn an emmy nomination for Alyssa but unfortunately it did not happen. I was surprised how smart the character was especially while doing stuff for the mob and taking care of her family. It shows how different loyalties are when it comes to a family you are working for. Either way it was real treat to see James Caan in this as well because he always does well in the mafia role. I recommend this film to anyone who is a big fan of the mafia films. Hell she is just as good as Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas and Talia Shire in The Godfather Part II. For any guy or mafia fan this is good treat.