Each person in the family has a secret (except the wife, played by Julianna Margulies, who is just angry and unhappy). The movie builds up to a cataclysmic confrontation in which everybody learns everything.
So, the movie does have its slow moments, but the idea is charming and the acting is excellent. If you need aliens from outer space or axes in heads, etc., this movie may not be for you. But if you like excellent acting and quirky characters, you may enjoy the movie as I did.
There are some defects in the movie. For example, the father's deep dark secret is that he wants to be a movie actor. Keep in mind that Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) has had this dark desire since he was a kid, he has lived in NYC all his life, he takes acting classes in NYC, so he has been surrounded by the life of the theater forever, he has teachers, he talks to actors. We see him reading a book on acting (it looks like "An Actor Prepares" by Stanislavski). And yet, somehow he has no idea what a casting call is. Even I know what a casting call is and I have nothing to do with acting.
To hide his acting ambition, Rizzo tells his wife he is playing poker. She thinks he is cheating on her. But, if he were playing poker, surely the wife would know some of his poker buddies, she would know where the game was played, would not the game be sometimes played in their own home? And, if she thinks he is cheating, why would she tolerate it for so long?
Perhaps one of the strangest scenes is where Rizzo has to borrow Tony's idea about how to play a tough guy, during his casting call. Why on earth would that be? How could Rizzo have been a prison guard for years without himself being a tough guy or, at the very least, seen plenty of prison tough guys in action? Why, of all things, does he have to make this up?
I could go on, and it is these and other defects that give the movie the feel of a film school project and keep it from being great. My advice: forget the defects and enjoy the movie.
So, the movie does have its slow moments, but the idea is charming and the acting is excellent. If you need aliens from outer space or axes in heads, etc., this movie may not be for you. But if you like excellent acting and quirky characters, you may enjoy the movie as I did.
There are some defects in the movie. For example, the father's deep dark secret is that he wants to be a movie actor. Keep in mind that Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) has had this dark desire since he was a kid, he has lived in NYC all his life, he takes acting classes in NYC, so he has been surrounded by the life of the theater forever, he has teachers, he talks to actors. We see him reading a book on acting (it looks like "An Actor Prepares" by Stanislavski). And yet, somehow he has no idea what a casting call is. Even I know what a casting call is and I have nothing to do with acting.
To hide his acting ambition, Rizzo tells his wife he is playing poker. She thinks he is cheating on her. But, if he were playing poker, surely the wife would know some of his poker buddies, she would know where the game was played, would not the game be sometimes played in their own home? And, if she thinks he is cheating, why would she tolerate it for so long?
Perhaps one of the strangest scenes is where Rizzo has to borrow Tony's idea about how to play a tough guy, during his casting call. Why on earth would that be? How could Rizzo have been a prison guard for years without himself being a tough guy or, at the very least, seen plenty of prison tough guys in action? Why, of all things, does he have to make this up?
I could go on, and it is these and other defects that give the movie the feel of a film school project and keep it from being great. My advice: forget the defects and enjoy the movie.