Kill the Irishman is a 2011 American biographical crime film directed by Jonathan Hensleigh,[3] and starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Christopher Walken, and Val Kilmer.

Written by Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters, it is based on the life of the Irish-American gangster Danny Greene, and was adapted from the book To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia[4] by Rick Porrello.

He worked as a longshoreman on the Cleveland docks, until being chosen to serve as interim president of the International Longshoremen's Association in 1961.

[1][7] After his conviction, Greene rose through the criminal underworld in Cleveland and waged war on the Mafia for control of the city.

[8] Kill the Irishman was released in the United States on March 11, 2011 and premiered at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York City.

Corrupt labor union boss Jerry Merke finds out, demands a cut of Danny's profits, and sends his Polish American enforcer Joe Buka to kill him.

Danny moves his unhappy wife and daughters back to Collinwood and Nardi gets him work as an enforcer for Jewish loan shark Shondor Birns.

Danny escapes several bungled attempts on his life and the summer of 1976 sees 36 bombings in the Cleveland area between the warring gangs.

The national attention it draws forces a humiliated Licavoli to ask Genovese boss Anthony Salerno in New York for help.

A Post-Script narrated by Detective Manditsky describes how Danny's murder crippled the American Mafia, first in Cleveland and then nationwide.

Producer Tommy Reid heard that Rick Porrello, an Ohio policeman, was about to publish a book about Greene called To Kill the Irishman.

Reid frequently left deals unconcluded, and discovered that the script he'd commissioned was attached to a cover with another screenwriter and producer's name listed.

[17] Reid first heard about mobster Danny Greene from his roommates in Ohio, and believed that New York City, Chicago and Boston were the "three meccas of mafia crime".

[1] Prior to making Kill the Irishman, Reid and screenwriter Jeremy Walters conducted research on Greene's life and organized crime in Cleveland.

[11] While researching his role, Stevenson looked at TV footage of Greene and read Porrello's book, To Kill The Irishman.

From his research for the movie, Reid became specialized[clarification needed] in the Northern Ohio crime scene and Greene's life[18] and felt that by making the documentary, he could go to his "grave saying I tried.

He joined forces with production company Code Entertainment and engaged with a "reliable" director, Jonathan Hensleigh.

They signed actors Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken[1] and later Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), and Ray Stevenson.

[24] On the other hand, Stevenson said that they had wanted to film in Cleveland, but the city had "prettied itself up" and changed, while Detroit remained, in his opinion, "on its knees".

For example, the producers couldn't afford to shoot the film's final scene (in which Greene is killed via a car explosion) twice.

He criticized it for jumping through different events in a "jerky fashion", but summed up the review by calling it a "movie with a lot of meat on the bone, even if some of it is tough or stringy.

[27] Robert Abele, of the LA Times, said "the film plays like an explosion's aftermath; shards of mob movies that add up to the usual Goodfellas knockoff".

[14] In regards to the controversy surrounding Kill the Irishman and its purported similarities to Goodfellas, critic Dave Van Houwelingen said: There are certain movies that serve as a standard bearer for a genre – a high water mark that filmmakers always try to hit, but seem to always come up short.

He noted that Hensleigh was telling the "true-life tale" of the mob's decline in Cleveland, but also said that "every character and setpiece felt like it fell off a truck".

[14] LA Weekly's Nick Pinkerton held similar views, saying that although "Hensleigh perks up when filming violence, the atmosphere throughout is past-prime, stymieing any strut".

[30] Despite criticizing the film's structure, Schwarzbaum called the cast "tasty", and singled out D'Onofrio, Kilmer, and Walken for praise.

[30] Clint O'Connor, of The Plain Dealer, held similar views, saying the "film's greatest strength is its cast".

[31] On the contrary, David Rooney held the opposite opinion; saying the "low-wattage cast" is what turned the "potentially strong" film into a "routine crime thriller".