The defence The Cool Ironist
“Restraint trusts the audience.”
It leaves emotional space unlabelled, trusting viewers to notice what the characters cannot say aloud.
Back to trending 
The Brothers Rico
Crime · 1957
Eddie Rico, the erstwhile bookkeeper for a big Mafia boss, is now making a living as an honest merchant in Florida with his family. Things go sour when the police start a search for his syndicate-linked brothers who are on the lam after a big hit, forcing Eddie to get involved with the Mafia again.
Movie details
The Brothers Rico
“Three hunted men and their desperate women...”
1957 Crime 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
Eddie Rico, the erstwhile bookkeeper for a big Mafia boss, is now making a living as an honest merchant in Florida with his family. Things go sour when the police start a search for his syndicate-linked brothers who are on the lam after a big hit, forcing Eddie to get involved with the Mafia again.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Brothers Rico?
For the defence
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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The Big Heat
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After the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop, tough homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands when he sets out to smash a vicious crime syndicate.
GoodFellas
Drama · 1990
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Donnie Brasco
Crime · 1997
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Phil Karlson
Written by
Lewis Meltzer · Ben Perry · Dalton Trumbo
Richard Conte
Eddie Rico
Dianne Foster
Alice Rico
Kathryn Grant
Norah Malaks Rico
Larry Gates
Sid Kubik
James Darren
Johnny Rico
Argentina Brunetti
Mrs. Rico
Lamont Johnson
Peter Malaks
Court is in session
Put The Brothers Rico on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Sentimental Softie
“Distance mistaken for discipline.”
The chill may look elegant, but withholding a heartbeat is not the same as having complicated feelings.