They should put this movie in Webster's as the definition of "low budget". The appearance reminded me of watching a cheap film at a drive in movie where they really need to change the bulb on the projector.
Joe Pesci, at a time when his on screen persona was not nearly so grating as it later became, owns and operates a combo nightclub and bowling alley, which could of course only exist in New Jersey. He is also the lounge lizard singer, and he is terrible. He has romantic intentions toward a girl singer who is worse than him. He lives with his sister and nephew, or maybe they are his niece and nephew. There is also an older man who shows up from time to time to eat with them who maybe speaks only Yiddish. They live a bleak existence in a ratty apartment which makes the viewer marvel at how they have all avoided suicide for so long. The mob wants to buy Pesci out, so they can tear down the joint and build a multi story something or other on the location. Joe doesn't want to sell because he needs to "keep his act together" until he can get to Vegas and hit it big like Sinatra.
I had to admire the Pesci character for staying optimistic amid so much which would bring most of us down. But, wow, what a squalid life we see. It's not that they are necessarily poor, they seem to be getting by fine. Joe has a very nice 1950s T Bird. It's what passes for "getting by" that was so depressing to me. If there is a moral, maybe it's this: if you have a dream, and keep that dream, you can be happy.
Joe Pesci, at a time when his on screen persona was not nearly so grating as it later became, owns and operates a combo nightclub and bowling alley, which could of course only exist in New Jersey. He is also the lounge lizard singer, and he is terrible. He has romantic intentions toward a girl singer who is worse than him. He lives with his sister and nephew, or maybe they are his niece and nephew. There is also an older man who shows up from time to time to eat with them who maybe speaks only Yiddish. They live a bleak existence in a ratty apartment which makes the viewer marvel at how they have all avoided suicide for so long. The mob wants to buy Pesci out, so they can tear down the joint and build a multi story something or other on the location. Joe doesn't want to sell because he needs to "keep his act together" until he can get to Vegas and hit it big like Sinatra.
I had to admire the Pesci character for staying optimistic amid so much which would bring most of us down. But, wow, what a squalid life we see. It's not that they are necessarily poor, they seem to be getting by fine. Joe has a very nice 1950s T Bird. It's what passes for "getting by" that was so depressing to me. If there is a moral, maybe it's this: if you have a dream, and keep that dream, you can be happy.