Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia

A hit-man for a close-knit Mafia family falls in love with his female counterpart, but when she makes a serious blunder against the family, he's faced with the toughest choice of all.

Flixster Users

60% liked it

6,239 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

32 critics

R, 2 hrs. 9 min.

Directed by: John Huston

Release Date: June 13, 1985

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DVD Release Date: March 13, 2001

Stats: 243 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (243)


  • May 3, 2009
    One of John Huston's final films is a mob/love story/dark comedy that falls like a set of well placed dominoes. Jack Nicholson plays Charlie Partanna, a middle man in the Prizzi crime organization who becomes instantly obsessed with a woman named Irene (Kathleen Turner) at a wedd...( read more)ing. Days later he winds up in Los Angeles looking for a large sum of money that had been stolen from the family and ends up whacking Irene's estranged husband. They meet again and quickly fall in love, but Charlie doesn't know that Irene is also a "contractor" who had been in town to pull a hit. The missing money, a kidnapping gone astray, and a jealous lover (Angelica Huston) end up turning this romance into a one debacle after another.

    The acting in Prizzi's Honor is great. Nicholson shows his chops once again, playing the not so bright Brooklyn criminal. At first it's shocking to hear Jack talk like this, but it quickly grows and becomes a stellar performance. Kathleen Turner's performance as Irene is laid back without the over acting that Turner has been known to perform. Of course Angelica Huston one an Oscar for this one, but there are two other actors that need some praise. The first is William Hickey as the Don, a shocking turn for someone who is usually an unpleasant old man. The second is John Randolph as Charlie's father. Randolph also pulls off the Brooklyn accent and is fabulous when he's on screen. Hickey and Randolph would team up again in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

    Huston doesn't feel like a dinosaur directing this film. It's more modern than some of his younger brethren were producing at the time, yet there's a timeless quality to it. It could be the fifties and it could be present day under his direction. Prizzi's Honor stands as one of the last notches in John Huston's storied career and shows that he was able to adapt to the times and still be relevant in the film business. A great flick from a legend.
  • December 7, 2008
    The Departed meets Romeo and Juliet....

    ***It really is Mr. and Mrs. Smith 20sum years later...except they is more love and this one has the classic Godfather atmosphere....as always Jack Nicholson what AWSOME! he is awsome in everything!!!!!
  • November 20, 2008
    For those of you who haven't seen it and may be mispronouncing the name like I was for a long time, think of how you pronounce pizza. The "i's" sound like "e's" and it sounds like there is a "t" in there. I chuckled occasionally because it imitated and twisted The Godfather in ...( read more)some important ways, but it certainly wasn't a laugh out loud movie. I was actually a little confused several times partially due to the Don's character who was very lizard-like and who spoke so gravily that I couldn't understand the orders and plans he dished out some times.
  • October 19, 2008
    One of John Huston's minor works. A wacky, bright looking, charming, cheerful and lively dark comedy with a great cast; namely Angelica Huston and the scary looking William Hickey as Don Corrado.
  • January 1, 2007
    Yet another Jack Nicholson film that gets lauded over, but I thought was crap. And I LIKE Jack!
  • November 11, 2009
    Bizarro Godfather-ripoff, though somehow felt more dated than The Godfather. Both the accent and makeup sported by The Don was a little too wacky and seemed to always take me out of the moment, but I did enjoy seeing ...( read more)ef="http://www.flixster.com/actor/jack-nicholson">Jack Nicholson in a Mafia movie.

    Points of confusion (contains SPOILERS):
    - Why did Robert Loggia's character get bypassed for succeeding as head of the family?
    - if Jack's character was so important that he was lined up to eventually head the family, why wouldn't he have been more involved in the "outside help" incident?
    - Unless the mob was imposing this duty as a lesson of some sort, it doesn't make sense that Jack had to be the one to take out his wife... It's not like she had any sort of protection.
  • November 10, 2009
    Jack Nicholson plays a hit man who falls in love with a woman who is in the same line of work as him. They both later on get a hit on eachother. Its like the 80's version of todays Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The difference is they know each other's line of work, and it's more of a mafia...( read more) type of business.
    It's not one of my favorite Jack Nicholson movies but it still is a good movie. He plays all his parts well. Kathleen Turner is also good in this movie. It's a good dark comedy.
  • October 28, 2009
    Muy buena. Se trata de una película de gángsters, sí, pero es mucho menos solemne que el padrino y mucho más inteligente que una comedia sobre el tema como Casada con la Mafia o Mr. y Mrs. Smith. Me gustó por eso: por ser una muy buena mezcla de comedia y suspenso sin por ello de...( read more)jar de tener personajes muy bien definidos y situaciones hábiles y entretenidas. El elenco es por demás muy bien elegido y el dilema existencial de sus tres personajes principales la hace menos ligera que cualquier comedilla sobre la mafia italiana de esas que abundan y se apoyan más en los chlciés.
  • October 10, 2009
    i remember seeing it, but that's all. need a retake.
  • August 14, 2009
    Crazy movie, I waited for it to be funny, excitimg, tragic, sad, actionpacked or anything but nothing happened.

Critic Reviews


October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is the most bizarre comedy in many a month, a movie so dark, so cynical and so funny that perhaps only Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner could have kept straight faces during the love scenes. full review

View more Prizzi's Honor reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Prizzi's Honor Trivia


  • Anjelica Huston won the oscar for best supporting actress in which film?  Answer »
  • Which movie did not win Jack Nickelson an Oscar ?  Answer »
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