'Knockaround' nothing but not-so-wise guys

You'd think that, with its respectable cast and decent writers, "Knockaround Guys" could have at least been entertaining. Not that Vin Diesel and Seth Green are the best of actors working in Hollywood today, but with the team of writers who conjured up the enjoyable poker flick, "Rounders," behind the helm and John Malkovich on board, I was hoping to see something adequate, maybe even pleasantly surprising, out of "Knockaround Guys." \nBut now, having waited through this uninteresting celluloid identity crisis, I know the reason it has been shelved for nearly three years after shooting wrapped in 1999 -- it just isn't any good.\nThe biggest problem with "Knockaround Guys" is that it just can't make up its mind about what type of movie it wants to be. Sometimes, and most importantly, it's a coming-of-age story. Right from the get-go, "Knockaround Guys" focuses in on Matt Demaret (Barry Pepper) and his struggle to emerge from his notorious mafia boss father's (Dennis Hopper) shadow. So with a little help from his uncle (Malkovich), his father's hardnosed right-hand man, Matt is able to convince Daddy that he is ready for his own assignment.\nSo with a crew of his junior-varsity mafia buddies (Diesel, Green and Andrew Davoli), Demaret is given the task of retrieving a bag containing a half-million dollars cash from way out West. But you know what happens when you get a cokehead pilot (Green) to fly the bag for you? Well, as we all know, he'll probably lose it in Montana. Now the four junior wise guys have to go to Montana, and now it's a fish-out-of-water story. And boy oh boy, you've never seen a better excuse to open up a Pandora's Box of clichés than four mobsters in Montana (ha, ha, ha, they don't know who Brooks and Dunn are).\nWithout doubt, "Knockaround Guys" is about as predictable as they come. There are really only two sources of suspense in it: wondering how Malkovich will pronounce his next line and trying to guess whether the next scene will be an impotent comedic attempt or a ho-hum moment of "heavy" drama. There might be a couple things here and there that keep "Knockaround Guys" from being a complete flop, but by and large, it struggles to be anything besides a forgettable bore.