Lookin' Italian

Last updated
Lookin' Italian
Directed by Guy Magar
Screenplay byGuy Magar
Produced byGuy Magar
Starring
CinematographyGerry Lively
Edited byGreg Harrison
Music by Jeff Beal
Release date
  • January 1994 (1994-01)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Italian
Budget$380,000

Lookin' Italian is a 1994 American crime film directed by Guy Magar and starring Jay Acovone and Matt LeBlanc.

Contents

Plot

Vinny Pallazzo is a retired gangster who has left the mafia after a disastrous incident. Now working as a clerk in a dusty bookshop of Los Angeles, he has to look after his young, reckless nephew Anthony, who lives fast, spending his time between seducing girls at the bookshop, dancing in nightclubs and playing poker games with friends. Vinny tries to do everything so that Anthony doesn't cross paths with mafia and gang wars, as he is afraid that his brash and hot-blooded nephew might end up like his father - dead. But that may be a lot more difficult than it sounds, especially after Anthony's girlfriend is brutally killed with another friend of his, by a gang. Anthony wants then to be avenged, especially after learning the truth about his father.

Cast

Argentina Brunetti plays a grandmother. [1] Denise Richards (credited as Denise Lee Richards) portrays Elizabeth.

Production

A low-budget independent movie, Lookin' Italian is meant to be, in director Guy Magar words, "an hommage to Scorsese and to Italian-American culture ... To me, the words "Lookin' Italian" mean "lookin' good". [2]

Magar also mentioned in his autobiography about the good friendship between Acovone and LeBlanc as the first took the latter under his wing and helped him with his acting.

Critical reception

The critical response was mixed. Variety said:

Vet TV director Guy Magar takes an able cast through the paces of a story that feels stitched together from too many well-worn sources. The story of an ex-Mafioso who tries to start a new life, but finds it difficult to shake family allegiances and his violent past, Lookin' Italian fails to overcome the script's familiar turns and hoary cliches. Inconsistencies in tone, ranging from Revenge of the Nerds humor to bloody Tarantino-style mayhem and A Bronx Tale domestic melodrama, further distance pic from theatrical contention. The attractive leads and colorful supporting characters may help only enough for a video spot. ... With solid tech support, pic looks and sounds fine, but could use some judicious editing, especially in the draggy first act. An excess of repetitive dialogue could use pruning as well. [3]

On the other hand, other newspapers gave some good reviews, especially for a low-budget and low-promoted film. The Press Enterprise remarked, for example, that Lookin' Italian was "A powerful, smart and sassy independently-made film that comes together so well – blending comedy and drama, issues and entertainment – is a tribute to Guy Magar who made it for the low Hollywood cost of under $1-million!" [4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Lookin' Italian (1994)". The A.V. Club.
  2. ↑ Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot (Magar's autobiography)
  3. ↑ Article from Variety (01/13/1994)
  4. ↑ Action/Cut Article

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Pesci</span> American actor (born 1943)

Joseph Frank Pesci is an American actor. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Irishman (2019). He has received several awards including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award with nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt LeBlanc</span> American actor (born 1967)

Matthew Steven LeBlanc is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom Friends and in its spin-off series, Joey. For his work on Friends, LeBlanc received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also starred as a fictionalized version of himself in Episodes (2011–2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and received four additional Emmy Award nominations. He co-hosted Top Gear from 2016 to 2019. From 2016 to 2020, he played patriarch Adam Burns in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Valachi</span> American mobster (1904–1971)

Joseph Michael Valachi was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who was the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited with the popularization of the term cosa nostra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Families</span> Five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia

The Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Mangano</span> Italian-American mobster

Vincent Mangano was an Italian-born mobster also known as "Vincent The Executioner" as named in a Brooklyn newspaper, and the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. He was the brother of Philip Mangano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathrine Narducci</span> American actress

Kathrine Narducci is an American actress, known for her role as Charmaine Bucco, Artie Bucco's wife, on the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007). Her film credits include A Bronx Tale (1993), Chicago Overcoat (2009), Jersey Boys (2014), Bad Education (2019), The Irishman (2019), and Capone (2020).

Mitchell Whitfield is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry Farber in Friends (1994–2000), Phobos in W.I.T.C.H., Dr. Bruce Hampton in Minor Adjustments (1995–1996), and Stan Rothenstein in My Cousin Vinny (1992).

<i>Kiss Me, Guido</i> 1997 independent comedy film

Kiss Me, Guido is a 1997 independent comedy film. Written and directed by Tony Vitale and produced by Ira Deutchman and Christine Vachon, it stars Nick Scotti, Anthony Barrile, Anthony DeSando and Craig Chester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Petway</span> Musical artist

Robert Petway was an American blues singer and guitarist. He recorded only 16 songs, but it has been said that he was an influence on many notable blues and rock musicians, including John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix. There is only one known picture of Petway, a publicity photo from 1941. His birth name may have been Pettyway, Pitway, Petaway, or similar.

The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes".

Gerard Pappa, also known as "Gerry" and "Pappa Bear", was a soldier in the Genovese crime family. Known as a hitman and a major narcotics dealer, Pappa was widely feared for his violent tendencies, which directly contributed to his own murder in 1980.

To become member of the Mafia or Cosa Nostra – to become a "man of honor" or a "made man" – an aspiring member must take part in an initiation ritual or initiation ceremony. The ceremony involves significant ritual, oaths, blood, and an agreement is made to follow the rules of the Mafia as presented to the inductee. The first known account of the ceremony dates back to 1877 in Sicily.

<i>The Good Guy</i> (film) 2009 American film

The Good Guy is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Julio DePietro starring Alexis Bledel, Scott Porter, and Bryan Greenberg. The story is a loose adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's 1915 novel The Good Soldier, which is referenced several times in the film's plot.

The Bonanno crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Manza</span> American actor

Ralph Manza was an American character actor who made over 160 appearances in American film and television shows.

Guy Magar is an American director and screenwriter, born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1948. He directed television series before he transitioned to feature films, such as Our Family Honor and Riptide. An independent director, he is best known for having directed films such as Retribution (1987), Lookin' Italian (1994), Stepfather III (1992), and Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001). He wrote his autobiography in 2011 called Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot.

"Say It's Not You" is a song by American country singer George Jones. It was written by Dallas Frazier.

<i>Alex Rider</i> (TV series) 2020 British spy thriller television series

Alex Rider is a British spy thriller television series based on the novel series of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. Adapted by Guy Burt, it stars Otto Farrant as the eponymous character, who is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 as a teenage spy to undertake espionage missions. The series is Amazon's first scripted British Amazon Original series. The show is jointly produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television, and is the second screen adaptation of the novels, following the 2006 feature film version of the first novel, Stormbreaker.

<i>All the Light We Cannot See</i> (miniseries) American drama limited series

All the Light We Cannot See is an American historical drama television miniseries directed by Shawn Levy and developed by Steven Knight for Netflix. Based on Anthony Doerr's novel, it stars Aria Mia Loberti, Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. The four-part series follows the stories of a blind French girl named Marie-Laure and a German soldier named Werner, whose paths cross in occupied France during World War II.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.