Little Odessa: Special Edition

Twenty-four year-old writer/director James Gray makes a stunning feature debut in this devastatingly powerful drama about an on-assignment mob hitman (Tim Roth) forced to return to his Russian-Jewish neighborhood and the massively dysfunctional family he left behind. Strong supporting performances throughout, particularly by Edward Furlong, as Roth's allegiance-torn brother, and Vanessa Redgrave, as his dying mother, make this suffocatingly-bleak slice-of-life drama a must-see. Highly recommended. (S. C. Sickles)