Critic Reviews

The movie crosses two formulas -- Fish Out of Water and Coming of Age -- fairly effectively. Because it isn't wall-to-wall action but actually bothers to develop its characters and take an interest in them, it was not at first considered commercial by its distributor, New Line, and languished on the shelf for two years.

Nothing you haven't already seen elsewhere, except for Vin Diesel looking even then like a box-office champ.

Likable performances are critically wounded by implausible scenarios and derivative-minded direction referencing everything from ''Reservoir Dogs'' to ''Fargo.''

Young male auds should warm to its cool criminal ethos, sharp dialogue, charismatic cast and wry humor.

It has no twistiness or intrigue, and none of the juicy anthro-underworld detail that Koppelman and Levien brought to their screenplay for the tricky, enjoyable ''Rounders.''

Not as bad a movie as it sounds, just mediocre.

It has its moments of swaggering camaraderie, but more often just feels generic, derivative and done to death.

A layabout movie -- not risibly bad, just relentlessly sub-par.

This high-concept gangster picture tries unsuccessfully to duplicate Reservoir Dogs's(1992) hair-raising high-wire balance between dark comedy and violent crime thriller, undermining some entertaining performances and the script's small virtues in the process.

Despite flashes of originality, is a formulaic quagmire that traps bits and pieces from all these genres without really satisfying any of their true aims.