Suffering Bastards (1989)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Bernard McWilliams

Writers:

John C. McGinley (writer)
Bernard McWilliams (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Two brothers try to buy back the nightclub that was stolen from their mother.

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

John C. McGinley	...	Buddy Johnson
David Warshofsky	...	Al Johnson
Eric Bogosian	...	Mr. Leech
Pam La Testa	...	Mrs. Johnson
Rene Rivera	...	Bernard
Michael Wincott	...	Chazz
Eloise Marion	...	Sheena
Gina Gershon	...	Sharnetta
Rosemarie DiSalvo	...	Slice (as Ro DiSalvo)
Mavis Harris	...	Candy
Joe Duley	...	Tony
Sal Dupree	...	Himself
Michael J. Anderson	...	Little Elvis
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark Boccaccio	...	Man at Jukebox
Roger Donegan	...	Dex
Emery Estes	...	Balloon Man
Miles Hodson	...	Tiny Little
Albert Kane	...	Noodles
Gary Lee	...	Young Bud
Pauline Lepor	...	Stewardess
Stu 'Large' Riley	...	Barry White Impersonator
Brendon Shur	...	Young Al
Isabelle Sorribas	...	Woman at Bar
David Stepkin	...	Comic
Carol Strauss	...	Stormy Taylor
Ann Talman	...	Sam
Tom Turbiville	...	Skinner

Also Known As:

Liars Club

Runtime:

USA:89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Company:

Cinelux

Not insufferable, but definitely the weird and wacky type of film

Buddy is a lounge owner who also sings in his establishment, somewhere in Hawaii. When he needs a plumber, a beautiful young lady-mechanic answers his call. Since he likes what he sees, Buddy buys her a drink and begs her to listen to his life story. It seems, Buddy and his brother Al were the children of a female lounge owner/singer, too. A streak of bad luck caused their mother to lose her place of business and the brothers swore they would buy it for her again, someday. However, on an outing to the beach, mother dies, choking on a dagwood sandwich and the boys could abandon their oath, if they chose. Yet, when they crack a safe and load up with money from a local mobster, they decide to purchase the long-abandoned club, anyway. They are a singing duo, after all. Will business be good? Will the mob come after them? This is a strange little movie. Buddy and Al walk to a different drum, no doubt about that and their story is weird and wacky. The cast is quite good but largely unknown. The Jersey setting is wonderfully realized but the production values and costumes are mediocre. Then, also, the script has some bad language but manages to sport some memorable one liners. For example, one character asks the waiter if they have peppermint snapps. When the waiter assures the person that they do, the character says "good, I'll have a banana daiquari!" Fun. However, this movie remains a strange little piece of celluloid. If you an adult, bored with the tried and true and having seen most every other film available, you might seek out this movie. It is so offbeat that it can not fail to entertain, if only as a curio.