Folks, Harry here. This is still one of the best films I've seen this year by quite a bit. It is a beautiful character piece... a wondrous small film. The type that doesn't get advertised on the local affiliate. The type of film that doesn't get magazine covers and 4-5 page spreads inside. TWO FAMILY HOUSE is the sort of film that only you folks that really love film will ever see in a theater. The film has magic in it. Right now the film is beginning a long long platform release... popping up in cities here and there. I believe it is in New York and Los Angeles... it will expand past that soon... Examine your Friday papers closely... look for this rather bland title. But remember... this is a winner. So, take that lovely lass of yours or that lucky lad of yours and check this out.... Read Johnny Ahab's review... He just went out and dropped damn near a ten spot to see the flick... read his reaction. Then go have one of your own....
Hey Harry:
Longtime reader here, just call me Johnny Ahab. Don't have a scoop, but I had the good fortune to see a fantastic little film yesterday in NYC and wanted to thank you for the heads-up. Way back before Sundance, you wrote a rave review about a film called "TWO FAMILY HOUSE", and I'd put it in my mental movie tracking file. I'd read after Sundance that it won the audience award, and I was further intrigued.
I finally started seeing the trailer in theaters a few weeks ago, and some items in the local press about all the "Sopranos" in the film (I'm a "Sopranos" fanatic), and vowed to see this film opening weekend when it came to town. I saw you had a free screening notice on the site for earlier in the week which I couldn't make. But I caught it last night, and this is a film I didn't mind paying $9.50 for. It's worth every penny. And I hope you'll keep supporting this wonderful little film, Harry, and get the word out -- THIS MOVIE FUCKING ROCKS!!!
How many movies have you seen in the past year that are just soulless commercial exercises, that you walk out of rubbing your head and going "what the fuck was THAT??" I find it rarer and rarer to come out of movie actually MOVED, but this one did it over and over again. I got misty-eyed in the middle of the film and all choked up at the very end. It totally engages emotionally, although it takes a wee bit of time for that to happen -- but if you're patient, and let this film unfold, there are such great little moments and scenes, little teeny shockwaves that completely up-end the characters' lives, and you have no idea where it's going to go.
* * * SPOILERS AHEAD * * *
In a nutshell, it's about an Italian factory worker in Staten Island in the 50s. He had a shot at being a crooner on the Arthur Godfrey TV show, but his killjoy wife is so afraid he'll make a fool of himself (and her by extension) that she talks him out of it -- and it eats at him. But he keeps on dreaming and scheming of bigger things than 9 to 5 on the assembly line. He tries to be his own boss, but every business he attempts to get off the ground bombs. Finally, he decides to buy a nearly-condemned two family house, and he's gonna open a lounge in the ground floor where he'll get to sing, but on a much smaller scale. His wife again sees failure written all over this, but decides to go along with it until it inevitably flops again. (Later, as he starts to get close to realizing his dream of opening the bar, she sneakily tries to sabotage it behind his back.)
But on the day they move in, they find an abusive, unemployed, drunken Irishman living upstairs with his young pregnant wife, and due to some arcane loophole in the housing laws, they can stay for the next year rent-free. The factory worker turns to his neighborhood pals to throw the Irishman out, but then -- I can't tell you what happens next. I know, I know, that doesn't seem fair, but you know what? There's a twist that happens that TOTALLY FUCKING BLINDSIDED ME, and it sends the story shooting off into a different direction. I thought for the first act, okay, I know where this is going -- but once the unexpected happens, I had no clue what to expect and was happy to put myself in the writer-director's hands and go along for the ride. I've read a couple of local reviews this weekend, and the one's I've read don't give it away, and I hope the rest of the papers that review this film don't either. And the trailer hides it too, and so did you, Harry (thank you!) Trust me, folks, you don't want the surprise ruined. (So go see the movie quick before some bonehead reviewer spills the beans.)
* * * SPOILERS OVER * * *
Performances are across-the-board fantastic. The lead guy, Michael Rispoli, who plays the factory worker is FUCKING BRILLIANT!! I've seen this guy in lots of things as a supporting player, but he never really made an impression. He was on early episodes of "The Sopranos" (first season) as the mob boss who dies of cancer. But man oh man, this guy is right on the money. A big teddy bear with these big sad eyes and a huge heart, you just feel for him and get behind him right away. Reminded me of Ernest Borgnine in the classic "MARTY". Nice to see a real guy, not some blow-dried Hollywood-groomed twentysomething, as a romantic lead.
Katherine Narducci plays his wife, and it's a major credit to the filmmaker that she's not just a one-note shrew, but that you feel for her too. There are later scenes in which her heart is breaking, and you don't feel gleeful or happy that she's getting her just desserts, you feel sorry for her too.
And then there's Kelly Macdonald, the Irish guy's pregnant wife. WOW!!!! I'd seen her in "TRAINSPOTTING", but this role is star-making! Over two hours, she literally transforms from a plain-looking walking wound into a luminous, gorgeous young woman. And it's all done with ACTING, subtle emotional shifts, quiet revelations -- hats off to the writer-director, Raymond DeFelitta (who I've never heard of before this film), for getting richly layered performances out of everyone, and for writing and directing a beautiful, funny, moving script. Hard to classify this film -- there's romance in it, but to call it a romance makes it sound like a gushy chickflick; there's lots of drama in it too, but it's not a heavy-duty downer; and then there's lots of big-hearted comedy and warmth. It doesn't fit perfectly into any set genre, but that's fine -- it juggles tone and mood very deftly, again the mark of a really strong filmmaker.
There are lots of brilliant supporting performances too. The Irishman is played by a guy named Kevin Conway who's been around the NY theater scene for years. Played the Danny DeVito role in the stage version of "OTHER PEOPLES MONEY" in the late 80s (GREAT play and terrific performance, totally fucked-up, lame-ass Hollywoodized movie adaptation). "Sopranos" Big Pussy (Vinnie Pastore) is a blunt-spoken barkeep, and there's a guy named Matt Servitto who I recognized as an FBI guy on "Sopranos" who plays Rispoli's loyal Norton-like sidekick, and he's a hoot. There's even throwaway roles -- bits that could've wound up on the cutting room floor -- that are priceless. At one point, when Rispoli's bar is about to go under, he has to work the night shift at the factory to make extra money -- and there's a night shift supervisor, this rolypoly guy barking out orders, and he's hilarious! He's not vital to the story, but the audience all erupted with laughter at this guy. A memorable 30-second gem.
I could not imagine a Hollywood studio making this movie. The thing that struck me most about the film is it's honesty. There's a buddying romance between Rispoli and Macdonald (not really a spoiler, the poster and trailer tell you as much), but again, it's not telegraphed. They don't meet cute, and there are no big fakey romantic scenes. It takes a long time for the two characters to let down their guard and trust in each other, but the filmmaker lets it carefully unfold, drawing you in just as the characters themselves are drawn in. And the payoffs at the end -- MAN, a quiet little scene in a diner where everyone's world is rocked, FUCK, what a brilliantly written and directed climax. And although the characters are all blue-collar, they're never treated condescendingly. They may all be Italian factory workers and their spouses, but the writer-director treats them with affection. Keep an eye on this DeFelitta guy -- definitely a director to watch.
I cannot remember the last time I walked out a theater with my heart thumping and a mile-wide grin on my face. A wonderful discovery, lots of new talent, and I just hope Lions Gate has the guts to keep this in the theaters and let it find an audience. Now I see why Sundance filmgoers picked this as their winner (although I'm surprised it beat out "TAO OF STEVE", another Sundance graduate which I saw this summer and went bananas over). Glad I saw "TWO FAMILY HOUSE" early, and I'm gonna tell everyone I know about this movie. It's a keeper. Later. Got me a white whale to catch.
Johnny Ahab
