mjneu59 Review of Dominick and Eugene

Dominick and Eugene (1988)

sensitive drama spoiled by sensational climax

[5/10 · 14 November 2010]

Two orphaned brothers living in Pittsburgh, one an ambitious medical student and the other a slow-witted garbage man, find the ties between them wearing thin when events begin to intrude into their self-sufficient existence. Up to a point the film is one of those odd, intimate dramas all too easily overlooked in a crowded market, with an interesting relationship at it's core: each brother is totally dependent on the other (one financially, the other emotionally) and each in his own way faces the inevitable moment of separation and independence. But who would ever guess the story might end on a spotlit fire escape with the retarded Dominick clutching a kidnapped baby, and half the armed forces of the free world mobilized against him? The overblown climax obliterates too many of the film's not inconsiderable virtues, and the sensitive performances aren't enough to stop the plot from going haywire.