Little Odessa

A crime saga about a hit man who reopens old wounds after returning to his neighborhood for a job, and meets his old friends and enemies., A somber portrait of organized crime and family trauma, Little Odessa centers on the trouble caused when hit man Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) returns to his old neighborhood of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. A hired killer for the Russian Mafia, Joshua is given an assignment in his hometown, where he renews contact with his younger brother Reuben (Edward Furlong) and an old flame (Moira Kelly). But others do not welcome Joshua’s return, particularly his harsh, estranged father (Maximillian Schell), who had disowned Joshua years before and currently attempts to keep him from visiting his seriously ill mother (Vanessa Redgrave). The pressure of these family crises combine with Joshua’s deepening involvement in the local crime scene, ultimately triggering a bloody confrontation. First-time director James Gray creates a solemn, oppressive atmosphere that emphasizes the already grim nature of his story. The slow pace and familiar crime narrative were attacked by many viewers, contributing to a mixed critical reaction, but Little Odessa nevertheless won admiration for Gray’s visual sense and the skilled performance by Roth in the unsympathetic lead role., Tim Roth portrays criminal Joshua Shapira, returning to his home town of Little Odessa in Brighton Beach, New York, to carry out the contract killing of a jeweller., Tim Roth is a hitman who has one rule – he won’t take a job that involves going to the Russian-Jewish area where he grew up in New York. Until a contract on a jeweller forces him back there and into the bosom of a family he hasn’t seen for years. One of Roth’s best performances, directed by James Gray, making his directorial debut aged just 25, Tim Roth stars in this dramatic tale of good and evil as a professional killer who returns to his hometown of Brighton for a job, only to find it a struggle when he visits his dysfunctional family., Epic drama of love and betrayal in New York. Little Odessa is the home of the city’s Russian Jewish population, and it is to here that professional killer Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) returns to fulfil his latest contract. On arrival, Joshua is told by his brother Reuben (Edward Furlong) that their mother Irina (Vanessa Redgrave) is dying., A professional hitman in town for a job reopens some old family wounds, and encounters some of his former friends and enemies, in this heart-pounding crime drama.