State of Grace: So Much Potential, But...

Okay, so I finally got around to watching State of Grace (1990) after hearing it mentioned in a Pacino interview (he's in it for like 5 minutes, lol). The premise is GREAT: undercover cop goes back home to infiltrate the Irish mob, led by his childhood best friend’s brother. Sounds intense, right? And it is, in parts. Sean Penn as Jackie Flannery? Absolutely electric. He's completely unhinged, and the scenes where he's teetering between loyalty and madness are gold. He's the reason I kept watching, tbh. Gary Oldman delivers a powerful performance as well. Ed Harris is there, too. The problem is the plot. It feels…clunky? And Aidan Quinn as Terry Noonan, the undercover cop, felt a bit flat. He's perfectly…fine, but he doesn't have that same intensity as Penn. The ending especially felt rushed, like they had to wrap everything up in five minutes. There's a shoot-out scene in a bar that's genuinely shocking and feels so raw. Definitely a highlight. But overall? I wanted to love it, but it just didn’t quite get there. It had all the pieces for something amazing, but the execution just wasn’t as tight as it should have been. Still, Penn’s performance is worth checking out, even if the rest of the movie leaves you a bit wanting. What did you guys think? Did anyone else feel like the ending came out of nowhere?