29th Street (1991)

and I cannot believe it didn't get more behind it as far as advertising prior to it's release. When I auditioned for the part; we were told that the movie would most likely be an Oscar nominee. It should have been; because it is excellent. Truly excellent. It is a great story and looking at it now; it feels a lot like The Sopranos. In fact Tony Sirico of The Sopranos was in it.When we were filming in Charlotte; I never knew how much of a real story was in this movie. If you've ever filmed a scene for a movie; you know how much tunnel vision you really have. I didn't really understand it until I saw it almost a year later.My part was of a lottery "finalist" in the movie at "Madison Square Garden". Properly played by the "historic" Charlotte Coliseum. Now..the Independence Arena.I was there for 25 hours straight and I can't say I enjoyed it at the time. The local TV news interviewed me on air live (a major film in Charlotte was a big deal then) and I looked like a 70's reject with no sleep. I wasn't far from being that in reality! Although looking back; I am proud to say I was in this film.Please see it if you have not and you will be better for it.

I have always liked this film. Imagine my surprise when I found out mywifes uncle is in the movie! He plays Irv the pawnbroker. I had seen it a bunch of times before I found this out. He is the guy who sells Frank the lottery ticket. There are some great scenes in this film. The one where they are going to pick up the insurance check for their car that was "stolen" Ha! Ha!. is a classic. I have always liked Danny Aiello. He is one of the great Character actors of all time. And Anthoney Lapaglia is a solid actor also. The real Frank Pesce is also in the movie. You might recognize him from Beverly hills Cop with Eddie Murphy and other films of the like.

Danny Aiello and Anthony LaPaglia are great as a 'nothing ever goes right' father and his dumb-luck son. I've seen scores and scores of films and this one ranks up there with some of the best. Goodfellas, for example, only lighter with much more humor. I found myself belly-laughing throughout this film. I can't believe this movie never got the push it deserved at the box office, most people I talked to never even heard of this movie before and that's a real shame. This is a movie that should be seen by the masses. The next time you find yourself wondering what film to rent, try 29th Street(if they have it) and you will not be disappointed.

This picture hit the hard luck family right on the nose. A hardworking family with age old values struggles with life while one floats along with an odd sort of luck. you can see the frustration between a focused father and a happy go lucky dreamer son as he bounces from dead end jobs to affiliating with the seedy underworld mob types. Good laughs and near misses in tragedy fuel this well developed plot. The ending is unbelievable and will leave you with a warm feeling in your heart. you will believe that anyone can triumph no matter how bad the situation is.