Palookaville

I'm very rarely inspired to give a film a Ten, but this must have been just the film I was in the mood to see at the time. Only a few of those consciousness-threatening laughs, but generally a warmly funny film. As a dog-hater, I'm always astonished when a dog (or two) steals the show. Palookaville's dogs were the first film roles I've ever seen for the kind of pets MY friends have in real life. My wife was so caught up in her identity with the lives of the characters, that she was at one point heard to remark "Oh, no! Don't let something bad happen in this film!" Almost made us want to go and live in New Jersey.

In the vein of "Small Time Crooks" and "Trapped in Paradise," "Palookaville" tells the story of three screw-up, would-be criminals (Forsythe, Gallo and Trese) and their quest for the perfect crime. The film opens with a foiled jewelry store robbery that find the trio in a bakery instead of its neighboring store. The whole situation is goofy in an endearing way, especially when we find Trese crouched on the floor, hiding from police yet all the while chowing down doughnuts and brownies. With this film, Parker creates a familiar oddball trio with, while not completely appealing personalities, an overall charming combination. Forsythe's seriousness plus Gallo's wit and Trese's goofiness makes a film that made me laugh out loud and left me smiling, but in an independent rather that cheesy way. Definitely recommended.

Basically this is one of the finest films I saw the year it came out. American indie comedy/character cinema at its best. The trouser sniffing scene almost got me ejected from the cinema for laughing too loudly. This movie is an absolute triumph. Around the same time I caught 'Big Night', 'The Daytrippers' & 'Buffalo 66' - all great films. If you liked any of them you'll love 'Palookaville'.

For reasons which, to me anyway, are completely unfair, every heist movie released since 1992's RESEVOIR DOGS has been compared to that film. I agree that film was great, and obviously there have been rip-offs, but not every heist film is, and PALOOKAVILLE, a wonderful surprise, is an example. In fact, if there's any film this should be compared to, it's the 1950's Italian movie BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET. Like that film, this is not about hardened criminals planning a heist, but about ordinary guys who try to be criminals while juggling their lives(one is married and has a kid, one takes care of his dogs, and even the third, who's more of the criminal mind than his friends, is dreaming of going with his girlfriend to California). It's also like BOTTLE ROCKET, which is also about inexperienced thieves, but where those guys, for the most part, want to be criminals, these guys just see it as an escape. But director Alan Taylor and writer David Epstein aren't making a tract, they're making a film about characters we can relate to, and while it lags at times, this is surprising, funny, and touching. Also, the performers are all good(this is an early look at the talents of Kim Dickens and Vincent Gallo). One of the more under-rated films of the year.

I love movies about outsiders and this is one of my favorites.

Forget that it's supposed to be a heist movie; the three friends were never capable of that level of coordination. But there is a remarkable chemistry between them and paricularly with the women in the story. Gallo is quite magnetic in the lead and has a wonderful rapport with both his girlfriend and an older hooker.

Forsythe can be over-the-top in many films, but here he settles down and adds a touching counterpoint to Gallo. I mostly credit director Taylor for this small treasure because he has shown the same kind of class in his Napoleon film, "Emperor's New Clothes." Check out both of these films.