Two Family House (2000)

Two Family House: Directed by Raymond De Felitta. With Michael Rispoli, Kelly Macdonald, Kathrine Narducci, Kevin Conway. A dreamer finds that his wife and friends are binding him to his mediocre existence.

“It seemed strange to see the decidedly outer-borough u0026quot;Two Family Houseu0026quot; at an expensive Manhattan movie theater, until during the opening credits two old ladies sat in front of me, put their coats on the two seats between them, and proceeded to loudly comment on the proceedings to each other throughout the whole movie. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMuch like the friends of the protagonists do in this very sweet yet honest depiction of post-WWII life on Staten Island when an off-islander disrupts the quotidian.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile it drags a bit here and there, and the voice-over narration sometimes re-states the already visually obvious, the very New York characters (including one played by u0026quot;Pussyu0026quot; of u0026quot;The Sopranosu0026quot;) are real people in real situations and realistic traps. This is less schmaltzy than Barry Levinsonu0026#39;s Baltimore nostalgia-fests. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFilmed in Staten Island, Jersey City and Bayonne, the settings are accompanied by lovely period music by the John Pizzarelli Trio (who also does a cameo appearance as Julius LaRosa).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is one of those small, charming indie movies that seems to be a labor of love, like a jewel of a short story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e(originally written 10/14/2000)”