1st watched 4/26/2010 -- 6 out of 10(Dir-Peter Lilenthal): Cheaply filmed but well acted and interesting story about a wannabe Las Vegas lounge-type singer played by Joe Pesci as he lives out his New York city existence. He sings at a bowling alley that he owns which has 22 lanes and a bar at the end where he does his nightly act. The story is about his family -- including his sister and her son(whom he occasionally lives with), their Jewish life(including a barmitsfa), mob forces that they deal with on a daily basis and his infatuation with a girl singer in the club. This is kind of a slice of life movie that seems to be filmed with a leading towards improvisation in the performances and has a documentary style look and feel. You find out little bits and pieces about the characters as the story progresses but you have to be patient and pay attention partly because of the bad sound in this low-budget film or you'll miss things. The acting is excellent and the story keeps you interested and there are so many characters in the film that the whole thing could have been made into a TV series or at least a mini-series to cover everything. The ending is kind of abrupt and only hints at what may happen to Ruby(the main character) but I have to recommend this movie because you learn to care about the characters as it progresses. A different character for Pesci, but he plays it very well and it shows his versatility as an actor. Don't miss this one if you'd like to see all his work -- including this nice jump away from the Hollywood mainstream.
Review of Dear Mr. Wonderful
