I saw The Dukes last week at the Chicago International Film Festival. I LOVED IT. I have watched a lot of classic Italian cinema and have seen American films that clearly try to capture the spirit of those films; This is the first one , in my humble opinion that DOES. It is such a charmingly, delightful , funny and heartfelt piece. The ensemble of actors play like a great Jazz band . The performances are real, nuanced, and touching. The humor comes out of human characters not hackneyed forced situations we see in a lot of films today. I laughed out loud so many times but from the humanness of the characters and situation not because of being manipulated into laughter like so many comedies. And this is the first and only film I know of that is dealing with the current economic crisis but does so not despairingly but with a message of HOPE. You will leave the theater feeling uplifted. The film was directed by Robert Davi ,this was his directorial debut and he does a fantastic job . I cannot recommend this film enough. Davi,(who also stars in the film) along with Chazz Palminteri and Peter Bogdanovich has put together a GREAT group of actors. A story for this time. Without going in depth, the film follows two cousins , Davi and Palminteri ,who are DOO -WOP singers . In the 1960s they were the biggest act around . The film takes place today and they are no longer what they once were and are trying to make ends meet. The analogies in the film are right on target. As we see the collapse of the economy and families trying to make ends meet this film speaks to those struggles of trying to redefine how we all make our living ..and survive ..I was brought to tears several times during the film some from that trieste feeling we have from life and others from a kind of joy and hope that you are left with at the end of this film
