>It stripped away the charisma by just not showing any of the
>bosses. For instance, an American version of the film would
>show the boss working his charms to get the kids to drive his
>trucks. In this film, the kids just show up.

because the boss doesn't need to work his charms to get the kids to drive the trucks. if they showed a scene like that it would've been a glitzed up Americanized version of reality & would ring false in this setting.


>I don't think it really ever gave us a good feel for any of
>the characters or their struggles. I just felt like the focus
>was on being bleak rather than actually showing how life was
>bleak through a certain character's eyes. The closest they
>came to that IMO was with the tailor.
>
>I can understand not making the bosses like Tony Soprano but I
>honestly can't remember a single character out of the film
>(besides the Tailor).

I would say the tailor does an excellent job of giving a feel for his character's struggles, which is driven home especially well in his last scene at the truckstop. also the money runner guy, dude was just trying to do his job and found himself stuck in the middle between the two warring sides & tried to find a way out, only to realize that there was none. also the young kid with the soccer jerseys, he just wanted to be down with what seemed like what everyone else around him was doing, but didn't realize what that would cost until it was too late to turn back. and if you can't even remember the two punk teenagers who wanted to be Tony Montana I don't know what to tell you.


but i understand your point. the film largely shows alot of bleakness & mundane everyday shit. so I can understand not really feeling it. I mean it's not as compelling as Goodfellas or anything. but I imagine that's what the reality is actually like, and I thought it did a pretty good job of portraying that.