SPOILERS AHEAD. This was Joe Pesci's first starring role after making a name for himself in Raging Bull (1980). As a result of his popularity in the early 1990s, this one popped up on video under the title RUBY'S DREAM. It's a pretty depressing drama about a Jewish family living in a crowded apartment in Jersey City, NJ (although supposedly all of this was filmed in Germany!), consisting of Pesci, his sister, and her son--all desperately trying to survive. The kid results to petty larceny and fencing jewelry for cash, while Pesci is a pathetic mustachioed singer in the lounge of a bowling alley. Eventually, he crosses the mob (in the form of Frank Vincent, who was also in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Death Collector, all with Pesci) who sets the bowling alley on fire. Ultimately, he realizes that his dreams are not to be, and he resigns himself to being content in the ghetto. The film is very, very low budget, and has that poorly lit look to it characteristic of so many films of the late 70s/very early 80s. Ultimately, I found it too grim to watch more than once. The kid who plays his nephew, Evan Handler, was one of the cadets in TAPS with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn.
Review of Dear Mr. Wonderful
