Spike of Bensonhurst (1988)

Director:

Paul Morrissey

Writers:

Alan Bowne (additional dialogue)
Paul Morrissey (story)

Release Date:

11 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

One kid's fight for the respect of the neighborhood.

Plot:

Spike Fumo is an Italian kid apsiring to be a boxer. He falls in love with a rich girl, who turns out to be the daughter of a Mafia boss...

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Cult Favorite | Boxing | Lesbian | Lesbian Mother

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sasha Mitchell	...	Spike Fumo
Ernest Borgnine	...	Baldo Cacetti
Anne De Salvo	...	Sylvia Cacetti
Sylvia Miles	...	Congresswoman
Geraldine Smith	...	Helen Fumo
Antonia Rey	...	Bandanas Mother
Rick Aviles	...	Bandana
Maria Pitillo	...	Angel
Karen Shallo	...	Blondie
Christopher Anthony Young	...	Carmine
Mario Todisco	...	Tortorella
Rodney Harvey	...	Frankie
Talisa Soto	...	India
Frank Adonis	...	Vinaca
Frank Gio	...	Pete Fumo

Also Known As:

The Mafia Kid (Australia) (video title)
Throw Back! (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

FilmDallas Pictures

Not overly successful, but still a good attempt at comedy

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Spike Fumo (Sasha Mitchell) is a young boxer who, despite possessing enormous potential, is failing to make a success of himself in the ring. To make matters worse, he must contend with his lesbian mother and her lover harrassing him in his home and his dad doing time in Sing Sing Prison for local mob boss Baldo Cacetti (Ernest Borgnine.) Spike ends up making things even worse for himself when he starts dating the don's feisty blonde daughter Angel (Maria Pitillo.) He soon finds himself forced out of Bensonhurst and forced to live in a Puerto Rican community. Things build up to a shattering climax.

When I first saw this I expected a nice sort of family comedy, a la in the vein of Sylvester Stallone's Oscar, but I couldn't have been greeted with anything more different. This is a very adult comedy, aimed more at the adult market, with tonnes of strong language, crude sexual referencing and even a little drug use but on this level Spike of Bensonhurst is actually quite admirable.

This isn't a movie with what could truly be called laughs by the barrelful, but it flows along quite smoothly as a film, playing out in a nice, easy-going way, with a cool soundtrack and quite a charismatic lead performance from Mitchell, who I liked in the Kickboxer movies. Even though he's playing quite an unlikeable character here, he still plays the role for all it's worth and enjoys a good rapport with screen legend Borgnine amongst others. Not completely successful, then, but still well worth a watch. ***