From its buildings, to its busy streets. From the people in the city, to the culture that created it, John Cassavetes perfectly captures the true essence of NYC. The true grit of the city, the core of the apple. The setting of the film is real. Unlike the remake almost twenty years later, NYC does not look like a commercial Disney Land without Mickey. Watching the film, you can smell the dirty hallways in the lower middle class hotels. You can hear the crowded Hispanic neighborhoods. And you can see what NYC is really like in Gloria.

Young Phil is the only surviving member of his family after the mob kills his mob accountant father Jack and everybody else. Jack's been stealing from the mob and informing the FBI. The mob is after Jack's book on the mob. Jack sent the book and Phil to their neighbor friend Gloria Swenson (Gena Rowlands). Phil is a brat and Gloria hates kids. They go on the run from the mob as she tries to work out a way to save themselves.

This is the classic collaboration between director John Cassavetes and his wife Gena Rowlands. It has his gritty documentary indie style and the rundown NYC setting. The formula is simple. John behind the camera and Gena in front of the camera. That's all anybody needs to know about this movie. Gena just has so much skills portraying this woman. I'm not as kind with the kid but he's just a kid from the neighborhood. He's just too big I AM THE MAN! He has limited skills to play with. The movie can be a bit uneven especially with the pacing but it's a must see for Cassavetes and Rowlands fans.

Gena Rowlands is Gloria, a tough gangster's moll who gets in over her head when she agrees (reluctantly) to take care of 6 year old Phil Dawn(John Adames),the half Puerto Rican neighbor whose parents (Buck Henry and Julie Carmen) realize that they are about to be murdered by the mob. Henry, a mob bookkeeper, has turned over states evidence, and this means a death sentence for him and his family (which includes a daughter and mother-in-law). Gloria makes it clear from the beginning that she doesn't like kids, much less this one, but unconsciously takes him anyway, leading to a show-off between her and old mob associates, which includes her former lover. Gloria isn't afraid of using her gun to keep the mobsters away from the boy, and instantly, this brings sympathy towards her seemingly cold character. Like gangster's molls of the great crime dramas, she is hiding a heart of gold underneath all that toughness, and that makes the film extremely engrossing in watching out how it all unfolds.

Rowlands and Adames are powerful in their performances, and they share an amazing chemistry together. Adames doesn't act like any movie kid; he is real. Why he won a "Razzie" (Worst) Supporting Actor award makes no sense to me. Rowlands plays the role as if she were Gloria Grahame, Ida Lupino and Ann Savage all rolled up into one. This lady will take no nonsense, even telling a tough waitress at a Grand Central restaurant to take a hike. In fact, the film makes great use of New York locales not usually seen in mainstream films. The film is filled with many clichés, and the ending is very forumalatic (in a "The Lady Vanishes" way),but it left me feeling totally satisfied. Sometimes formula works, especially when the heart is present, and this film is filled with heart.