Gena Rowlands, in an Oscar-nominated performance, plays a won’t-back-down former mob moll with whom doomed neighbor Julie Carmen emergency-parks son John Adames (accessed in real-kid mode by writer/director Cassavetes), who has incriminating evidence against gangsters. Packing heat, Gloria zigzags across town with the boy, hitting authentic locations captured by cinematographer Fred Schuler (Arthur, The King of Comedy).