Nunzio

Nunzio is a rarely aired film concerning a twenty something mentaly challenged man. On the surface he appears to be a loon wearing a towel as a cape playing hero. Fortunately for the viewer he turns out to be much more. David Proval in an understated performance shows us the life and first time love in a wonderful fashion. In the end we see a wannabe hero that truly can be. A small film not to be missed.

A good and forgotten film. I saw this as a kid when it was on Wometco Home Theatre back in the 70's. David Proval stars as Nunzio, a mentally challenged man whose life the film focuses on. Many years after seeing this moving, I met my wife who has a mentally challenged brother. As the years passed, I remembered this movie as Nunzio and my brother-in-law were very much alike and had the same issues. The film does an effective job showing not only what a mentally challenged person goes through, but also that person's family as well. Just like my brother-in-law, Nunzio has capabilities but, most of the time, is unable to use them constructively. The film shows that there is not much that can be done for such people and it can become a frustrating situation for that person's family. Sadly, the film also shows how mentally challenged people are often bullied or taken advantage of by others. David Proval is outstanding as Nunzio. Due to the limited release of this film, he did not receive the credit that he should have for his performance. The move is on You Tube so check it out.

When I was a youngster my best friend/next door neighbour's father who flew Canadian Forces cargo jets would take us along on 48 hr trips (often down to the States). This was I'm sure was highly against regulations and could have gotten him, who knows, maybe even thrown in jail, but he was half-pissed all the time so he had a few issues going on.

But to the point, I got to see a lot of films at an earlier age than I should have because once we got to the destination base he needed to go to the bar so my friend and I got dropped off to the base movie theaters that seemed no matter the base to run a 5 movie loop round-the-clock, and the movies were all classic grindhouse fare, Melvin Van Peebles and all the blaxploitation to follow after, Italian horror, Australian genre flicks, etc.

Being a big film buff probably because I got exposed to so much independent film as well so relatively young, I have one heck of a back catalogue to pick from, but "Nunzio" really stands out. I read in one of the reviews that it had some schlock in it, but from what I remember from that day when I lucked into seeing this fantastic film in a corrugated metal shed theatre in the NWT in Canada.

Something about the way the characters are written and in the dialogue, and of course the acting as well, but that dialogue, it really was incredibly engaging and sucked me into being so emotionally invested in the characters' lives, and even through some for-one-reason-or-another quite uncomfortable scenes to watch that out of all the similar-type movies I watched at those military bases only "Nunzio" stands out.

And it stands out even though beyond the general plotline I can't recall much detail other than 2 scenes, but how strongly I felt the emotions the screenwriter and director wanted me to feel, wow, I felt like a puppet on a string and this tugged at my heartstrings so very hard that just the thought of the movie finds those heartstrings reverberating over the years even still. I would be so happy to find a way to watch this in any format, I think I'd even buy an ancient VCR to be able to watch it, I loved it that much.

Nunzio is a little-seen drama which tells a standard underdog story a husky, mentally-challenged deliveryman (David Proval) who dreams of being a superhero. Teased by the local hoods, his older brother Jamesie (James Andronica, who also wrote the screenplay) protects Nunzio to the point of smothering him.

Although the movie is rather sappy, Proval dose a very good job of keeping most of the ham in check (unlike co-star/screenwriter Andronica). In addition, Jazz singer/Corelone matriarch Morgana King was a welcome sight playing the mother of Nunzio and Jamesie.

Note: There was one specific scene that to this day still makes me uncomfortable even though it was important to the plot and put this movie in MPAA rating limbo. The film was originally rated R because of a sex scene between the main character and a neighborhood girl. According to the original NY Times review by Janet Maslin, that scene was edited down so the movie can get a PG rating. When the movie was shown on cable TV, the R-rated version was shown at night and the PG-rated version was shown during the day. I would have to agree with Maslin that if you took the sex scene out, the scenes after the incident made no sense at all.

Universal released Nunzio to theaters in 1978 but has never released the movie to DVD. I wonder why? Ever since his 1973 debut in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, Proval has been a very dependable character actor an has appeared in numerous movie and TV projects including his memorable role as Richie Aprile in The Sopranos. I would think Universal would have considered releasing Nunzio to DVD to take advantage of Proval's Soprano buzz and show how talented the actor was to people who have never seen or heard of Nunzio. Sometimes some marketing strategies makes too much sense.

You might catch this captivating film on the late late LATE show some night, it doesn't pop up too often. The story of a mentally challenged grocery-delivery boy and the neighborhood of craziness that surrounds him, NUNZIO will stay with you long after you've seen it. David Proval gives an amazing performance as the title character. In fact all of the performances are right-on.

Like Cliff Robertson's "Charly" or Jackie Gleason's "Gigot", Nunzio tugs at your emotions and doesn't let go. Proval went on to star in the HBO series "The Sopranos".