Friends and Romans (opens in Cleveland November 6th at Regal Richmond Town Square)

[FRIENDS AND ROMANS opens in Cleveland on Friday November 6th exclusively at Regal Richmond Town Square.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

At its heart FRIENDS AND ROMANS is a warm, sincere, and funny story about Nick Demaio (Michael Rispoli), an Italian-American actor (glorified extra, really) trying to break free of typecasting in bit gangster roles to do work he can be proud of. Unfortunately that doesn’t always mesh well with the screwball comedy side of the film, a sort of BULLETS OVER OFF-BROADWAY in which Joey Bananas (Anthony DeSando), a real gangster with aspirations to be an actor, winds up playing Brutus in Nick’s all-Italia production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Nor does it help that the film piles on a few too many subplots of varying interest and believability.

Rispoli co-wrote the screenplay with Gregg Greenberg and director Christopher Kublan, and one assumes that it’s at least somewhat autobiographical. Rispoli generally gets better roles with actual lines of dialog than Nick, but he’s still played an awful lot of gangsters (as have several of the supporting players in the film, with more than a few Sopranos alumni on hand). That gives the film a bit of authenticity in its depiction of guys who take the work they can get so they can support their families, but nonetheless feel frustrated that they only get called on to play the same kind of roles again and again. There’s also a genuineness to the scenes of DeMaio’s homelife with his wife Angela (Annabella Sciora), a teacher, and his daughter Gina (Katie Stevens), herself an aspiring actress who is more than a little embarrassed by her dad’s body of work.

Although not fatal to one’s enjoyment of the film, a subplot involving Gina winning a role in her high school production of ‘Guys and Dolls’ by playing along when the director mistakenly believes her dad really is a gangster feels like padding, and inauthentic padding at that. And when Nick’s play becomes the target of a police sting operation to catch Joey Bananas, the film comes dangerously close to being too silly for its own good. Nonetheless, there are a fair number of laughs, the cast is likeable, and overall it’s a nice little film. 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

Il Sorpasso (June 19th and 21st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[IL SOPRASSO screens Thursday June 19th at 7:45 pm and Saturday June 21st at 5:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Wow, twice in two weeks, two black-and-white movies from the early 1960s that most of you have never heard of (one that I confess I had never heard of), with not a bit of CGI. Yet they gave me more entertainment value than whatever sequel or superhero junk made millions at the multiplexes. And both were scheduled at the illustrious Cleveland Cinematheque, run by John Ewing. Gee, can there be a subtle lesson here?

Yes: Hollywood must work harder on even more expensive and action-filled superhero movies. That's the only lesson most filmmakers and moviegoers will take home.

8 1/2 (January 12th and 13th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[8 1/2 screens Saturday January 12th at 9:15 pm and Sunday January 13th at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I've been thinking about Alfred Hitchcock lately. This eccentric, brilliant fellow gave so much to the world of cinema and popular culture. His movies and TV program, not to mention book publishing, his own self-titled mystery magazine and spinoffs, generated loads of money - for Universal Pictures especially. And now at least two bio-movies of which I am aware portray him in a fairly sensational light, putting freak-show emphasis on his obsession with blondes, serial killers and his own marriage. Some of it is historically accurate, some is not, and during his own career Hitchcock certainly encouraged coming across as a creepy-uncle type of person. Fair enough. Still, to me it seems a pretty (and typically) ungracious way for Hollywood to

devour one of its own for a few additional box-office dollars. Hitchcock, after all, died decades ago and is in little position to speak for himself.

Marriage Italian Style (December 10th and 11th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE screens Saturday December 10th at 5 pm and Sunday December 11th at 3:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

At the harness-racetrack, one of my many part-time jobs this week, I overheard on the headset one of my young co-workers discussing the televised Victoria's Secret runway show. In despair. He said the lingerie models were so hot it was literally painful to his eyes; he could barely watch them. Well, for his benefit and the peace of mind to all similarly afflicted males, let me as a man of the world tell you this: Those Victoria's Secret girls may seem fabulous now, but just wait. All that booze, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, peyote, methamphetamine, airplane glue and toad venom will eventually take their toll. So will the numerous illegitimate children, four or five apiece, all by different fathers (and it’s always Colin Farrell; I don't get how that works either). Then there's the facially scarring sportscar wrecks, the acid burns from DIY chemical peels, ghastly reconstructive/cosmetic surgery, tanning-bed accidents and botched implants. The domestically violent pro-athlete or rap-star boyfriends. The exercise-yard beatings in prison after the shoplifting/assault convictions. The many years of living rough on the streets after being expelled from the ashram for stealing the guru's platinum-grade credit card.