“Jesse” a Gutsy Crime Film

Stephanie Finochio gets serious in title role of JESSE

Jesse BOXART 1

 

Working with a tough stunt woman and WWE wrestler for his lead, writer and director Fred Carpenter delivers a hardnosed crime film called Jesse to home video.  The storyline may be a little hackneyed and bruised from overuse, but the performances by two central characters are well played.  If you are into crime films that involve mafia type characters that get very rough and violent, then you’ll win with this gutsy film now on DVD.  

After years of service as a police officer Jesse has turned to alcohol to ease her woes.  Included in her downfall is a failed marriage and custody of her two children denied. She has moved in with her mom (Tamara Markowitz) and her brother Mitch (Mitchell Walters) putting a damper on her love life.  To make matters worse her brother owes money to Ralph (Anthony Trentacosta) the mob captain for the local mafia.

Ralph (Anthony Trentacosta) tells Jesse (Stephanie Finochio)  to stay out of his business
Ralph (Anthony Trentacosta) tells Jesse (Stephanie Finochio) to stay out of his business

Mitch goes missing and presumed dead after finding his foot in the water near a bridge. Being a tough cop, Jesse goes on a tirade accusing Ralph of murdering her brother.  The mafia godfather Vince (William Forsythe) orders Ralph to stop messing with Jesse as her police connection can cause a lot of trouble for the mob. When Dominic (Armand Assante) of Internal Affairs tells Jesse to stay away from Ralph or be suspended, she digs even deeper into the case that includes a possible major drug deal.

Jesse finds herself sinking and starts to rely more on alcohol to ease her pain.  Director/writer Fred Carpenter does his best to keep his film from staying off course.  He inserts several side stories to keep the audience off balance, but it only makes the film confusing.  Obvious filler includes a supposed blind date for Jesse that doesn’t pan out, the Police Captain Joe (Paul Vario) gets threatened by Ralph’s hit men and Jesse gets publicized as a hero when she happens on a robbery killing the perpetrators who are holding a large number of hostages.

Stephanie Finochio gets serious in title role of JESSE
Stephanie Finochio gets serious in title role of JESSE

Stephanie Finochio does a pretty good job as Jesse making her cop character tough and out of control.  Better known as Trinity a pro wrestler who performed for the WWE from 2006-2007 and a stunt woman from 1991 to 2011, she’s perfect for the role. Adding to her credibility to play the character, she won the CSWF Women’s Championship by defeating April Hunter in 2003.  While this is Finochio’s first starring role in a film, she looks like she has potential for a chance with better filmmakers.  Her ability to do her own stunts combined with her reckless abandoned personality has value in today’s action market.

The best performance in the film however, goes to Anthony Trentacosta who put his heart and soul into Ralph the local mob boss who doesn’t take orders from anyone.  He’s an extremely dangerous mafia captain and it shows up big time on the screen.  Scary at times, Trentacosta looks as if he had some training in the ‘family’ business.  He reminds me of another ‘mobster actor’ Joe Pesci who made his character in Goodfellas a brutal killer that still sticks in my memory.  While Trentacosta has not reached that level, he looks like he’s on his way.

The well known stars are just window dressing yet they perform well in their roles.  Armand Assanti plays a short on screen scene where he warns Jesse to back off trying to take Ralph down.  Forsythe has similar scenes playing the godfather of the local crime ‘family’ who has to deal with Captain Joe and Ralph. Eric Roberts who can be seen in a lot of independent films lately pulls duty as a bar tender who gets to ‘wrestle’ with Jesse after closing one night.

Jesse has not been rated by the MPAA but contains violence, drugs, sex, nudity and language.  There are a few very brutal scenes, one that involves Jesse’s mother and another involving a strip club owner who is short on his payoff Ralph protection.

Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Stephanie Finochio, Anthony Trentacosta, William Forsythe, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts
Director: Fred Carpenter  
MPAA Rating: Unrated, contains violence, sex, nudity, drug use, language
Genre: Crime, Drama
Running Time: 1 hr 26 min    
Video Release Date: August 12
Original Film Release Date:
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 16×9, Widescreen, 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc, +VUDU Copy
Distributed by: ARC Entertainment

Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com