The Florentine dvd movie.|
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List Price: $9.99 Our Price: $9.99 Features • Color • DVD-Video • NTSC In Theaters : 1999 DVD Release : 28 March, 2000 |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Blue Collar Bonanza |
| I spent the better part of a decade working in a bar that services a strong working-class neighborhood up here in Winnipeg, Canada. This little flick hits the nail right on the head. The tree-lined streets, the old houses becoming new homes to new people, the brownstone churches and schools, the characters, the stories. All fell into place rather nicely but the stereotypes and cliches were a bit much. I say now and for the record that not all working people are poor, dumb and desperate; and it's the "desperate" element getting played up-from movies like this to Springsteen songs-that bothers me. We seem to have a fascination in North America with the glorification of "working-man plight". I know guys who look like ten miles of bad road and have more money than God, yet dress and talk like a vagrant. And the worse off you are, the more "respect" you seem to demand. Balls. That plumber who was getting married will make a fortune with his trade if he plays his cards right. Madsen's bar could be profitable if he showed a little imagination. A certain romance is present in bar culture, but not in getting hammered all the time. There's usually a way out and diving into a bottle, extorting money or having a kid you neither want or need isn't it. I grow weary of this calibre of self-inflicted misery. I've seen enough of it.
Social commentary aside, yes, this is a fine little piece. Good acting, sharp dialogue and direction keep it going. I've always liked Sizemore's work and it's a shame he's screwed-up his personal life so much. And Hal Holbrook's gritty barfly/philosopher is a kind of "Twain-esque" sage himself, very much like the one Hal made his own years ago with his countless one-man shows of "Mark Twain Tonight!". Also, when I see a movie with good writing I check if it was based on a novel or play; and so this was (play). I used to do some acting at our local summer theatre festival and have a soft spot for the stage. Take this movie on it's own merits; but that's all you should take away with you when the credits fade. |
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