Like the gangster epic it doesn't quite share a name with, Kill the Irishman is also based on true events. These largely take place in Cleveland in the 1960s and 1970s, detailing the rise and fall of Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson), a real-life Irish American mobster. Kill the Irishman opens with Greene as a lowly dock worker who gains notoriety after fighting his way to the top of Cleveland's Longshoreman Union. After he's caught for embezzling a small fortune, Greene cuts a deal with the FBI and becomes an informer. Still, that doesn't stop notorious gangster John Nardi (Vincent D'Onofrio) from recruiting Greene as mob muscle after the fact.
The ambitious Irishman quickly rises through the ranks of the Cleveland mob, but matters get tricky for all when Greene decides he could do better on his own and goes toe-to-toe with Mafia heavy Jack Licavoli (Tony Lo Bianco) for control of the Cleveland underground. In doing so, he basically puts a target on his back, but also earns a reputation for both dodging and avenging assassination attempts. All the while, he earns the nickname "The Robin Hood of Collinwood" for his good deeds in Cleveland's Irish community.
There's a lot more going on in Kill the Irishman, of course, with Hensleigh taking a distinctly Scorsese-esque approach to the narrative — delivering a kinetic, hyper-violent gangster flick with style and grit to burn. Hensleigh also pulls a towering performance from Ray Winstone, who anchors an all-star cast of supporting players that also includes Christopher Walken, Linda Cardellini, Paul Sorvino, Val Kilmer, and Vinnie Jones.
