Amazon.com video review:
Even a genre film looks different in the hands of
writer-director John Cassavetes. In this one, he casts a wonderfully
hard-boiled Gena Rowlands as the title character: a former Mob moll
who picked up a few tricks along the way. She becomes the unexpected
guardian of a young boy (John Adames) who has just seen his parents
wiped out. Worse, the Mob is after him as well, seeking a book he
has--and the overdue fine is a killer. Though Cassavetes lets his
actors have a little too much rein, it pays off in the complex--and
surprisingly funny--performance by Rowlands as an unlikely nanny who
discovers that, though she is an unwilling bodyguard, she actually
learns to care for the tough little guy she's trying to keep out of
harm's way. --Marshall Fine
