Academy
Award® nominated actor Harvey Keitel has made a career out of
playing the bad guys you love to hate. Keitel always manages to
capture that no-nonsense badass perfectly each time. To celebrate the
release of his latest film, TWO MEN IN TOWN, out on DVD and
digital platforms from 6th July 2015, we
take a look at some of Keitel’s best roles over the years.
TWO MEN IN TOWN
(2015)
After
18 years behind bars Will Garnett (Forest Whitaker)
is finally being released from prison. His supportive parole agent
(Brenda Blethyn)
and his new-found Islamic faith are the two things motivating Garnett
to live right and cast his violent impulses aside. However, Bill
Agati (Harvey Keitel),
the Sheriff of the small New Mexico border county where Garnett is
released doesn’t believe he is redeemable, and instead thinks he is
a major threat to the county. Agati launches a vicious campaign to
return Garnett to prison for life with no limits to how far he is
willing to go.
Reservoir Dogs
(1992)
When a group of thieves
come together they combine their skills to pull off the perfect
diamond heist. The initially flawless plan soon turns into a blood
bath when it becomes clear one of them is a police informer. With
there being no real honour among thieves it becomes a fight of
survival, and each man is out for themselves. Keitel plays Larry “Mr.
White” Dimmick, a no nonsense thief who has one hell of a kill
shot, and values loyalty above all else. When he realises Mr. Orange
(Tim Roth) was the informer, he puts that kill shot to good
use and goes out all guns blazing in the midst of a police ambush.
From Dusk till
Dawn (1996)
After a bank heist goes
terribly wrong and several police officers are left dead, bank
robbers Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and Richard
(Quentin Tarantino) quickly decide to hightail it out of town to
Mexico. Instead of leaving quietly they kidnap preacher Jacob Fuller
(Harvey Keitel) and his kids and take them to Mexico too. Unbeknownst
to them the bar they’re using as a hideout happens to be a vampire
gang’s home base. Keitel doesn’t play your average preacher; he
turns out to be a kick ass man in the cloth who has no problem
slaughtering a couple vampires, until he becomes one himself.
Clockers
(1995)
"Strike"
Dunham (Mekhi Phifer), a small time drug dealer finds himself in a
world of trouble when he is ordered to shoot a dealer, who stole
from his boss Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo). When the dealer shows up
dead cops automatically suspect Strike. Things get a lot more
complicated when Strike's brother, Victor (Isaiah Washington)
confesses to the crime although homicide detective Rocco Klein
(Harvey Keitel) isn’t buying it. Keitel plays up the tough New York
detective who knows just how to scare his targeted criminals
straight.
Bad Lieutenant
(1992)
Harvey Keitel once
again finds himself living a dubious life working on the wrong side
of the law despite being a police lieutenant. The Lieutenant is
morally corrupt, entrenched in gambling debt, and a consumer of a
number of illegal substances, but manages to fly under the radar
whilst abusing his power. When he is presented with the threat of
paying off his debt or else from the mob he gains perspective. The
Lieutenant focuses on solving the rape of a nun for the $50,000
reward attached to the case that could settle his debts.
Cop Land (1997)
When Murray Babitch (Michael Rapaport) gets
himself into trouble with the law his uncle Ray Donlan (Harvey
Keitel), a corrupt New York City cop, attempts to cover it up by
faking his nephew’s death. The cover up initially seems to be going
well until it leads to an investigation by Internal Affairs officer
Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) and Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone),
sheriff of the suburban New Jersey town where Donlan and his corrupt
policemen live.
City of Industry
(1997)
Harvey Keitel has a knack for playing
characters that get involved in group heists that go terribly wrong.
To pull off a Palm Springs jewellery heist Lee (Timothy Hutton)
gathers his older brother Roy (Harvey Keitel), Jorge (Wade
Dominguez), and Skip (Stephen Dorff), their weapons procurer and
driver for the job. The robbery is executed perfectly until Skip
tries to double-cross them and kills two of them. Roy being the last
man standing goes after Skip in Los Angeles to avenge his partners.
Bugsy (1991)
This biopic follows New York mobster Benjamin
"Bugsy" Siegel (Warren Beatty) as he leaves the Big Apple
for the glamour of Hollywood. He comes to Hollywood with the sole
intention of building up syndicate gambling rackets. His goal of
developing a gambling haven drives him to expand his racketeering
efforts into Nevada simultaneously helping develop Las Vegas. Keitel
plays Mickey Cohen, a prominent no nonsense Los Angeles gangster who
eventually comes to work for Siegel. In this role Keitel walks and
talks with that tough don’t mess with me demeanour that commands
respect.
Pulp Fiction
(1994)
This cult favourite follows Vincent Vega (John
Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), two hitmen with an
affinity for thought provoking conversations. Vega and Winnfield’s
crime infested lives are intertwined with their boss, gangster
Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), his actress wife, Mia (Uma Thurman),
Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), a struggling boxer, master fixer
Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel), and "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and
"Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer), a pair of panicky armed
robbers. Keitel’s infamous role as master fixer Winston Wolfe is
the epitome of a smooth operator under pressure cleaning up the
mistakes of others each time with both efficiency and style.
Thelma &
Louise (1991)
Thelma (Geena Davis) joins her friend Louise
(Susan Sarandon), on a fishing trip that quickly turns into them
running from the law after Louise shoots and kills a man who tried to
rape Thelma at a bar. To escape the law the two decide to head to
Mexico. Straight shooting Detective Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) is the
only one, who is able to piece together what happened to the two
women, and sympathetically tries to convince them to surrender before
their lives are ruined.
***
TWO MEN
IN TOWN arrives on DVD and digital platforms from 6th
July, 2015, courtesy of Signature Entertainment