Monument Ave.

Bickering lowlifes, loyalty vs. pragmatism, a loving depiction of a major metropolis' ethnic subculture--yes, it's yet another ill-advised Mean Streets facsimile. (Scorsese's classic is cinema's equivalent of Helen of Troy: the film that launched a thousand indie knockoffs.) Rote though this tale of Boston's blue-collar Irish gangland community may be--tiresomely so, in the end--it is, at least, anchored by a surprisingly affecting performance by Denis Leary, enlarging his standard motormouthed-wiseacre persona in a way that makes you want to see what he might do with a leading role in a movie that doesn't have 'EXPIRED' stamped on the leader in bold red. Extremely optional. (M. D'Angelo)