The Super (1991)

Karma comes into play when a wealthy wisecracking landlord is ordered by a court to live in the filthy building that he runs.

Director:

Rod Daniel

Writer:

Sam Simon

Stars:

Joe Pesci, Vincent Gardenia, Madolyn Smith Osborne

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Pesci	...	Louie Kritski
Vincent Gardenia	...	Big Lou Kritski
Madolyn Smith Osborne	...	Naomi Bensinger
Rubén Blades	...	Marlon (as Ruben Blades)
Stacey Travis	...	Heather
Carole Shelley	...	Irene Kritski
Kenn Michael	...	Tito (as Kenny Blank)
Paul Benjamin	...	Gilliam
Beatrice Winde	...	Leotha
Bhubeshi Bodibe	...	Goode
Abdoulaye NGom	...	Stubbs (as Abdoulaye N'Gom)
Carol Jean Lewis	...	Eleanor
Anthony Heald	...	Ron Nessim
Daniel Baltzman	...	Young Louie
Jack Hallett	...	Young Big Lou

Storyline

Louie is a New York slum landlord who is given 120 days to repair one of his apartment blocks. The problem for Louie is that he must live in the rundown block until the repairs are complete. Louie's father is the real boss, and he has no intention of paying for the repairs. This leaves Louie to live in the squalor his tenants endure all year round.

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Plot Keywords:

landlord | court | racial slur | rent | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

The best way to punish a slumlord is to make him a tenant.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

A háziúr

Filming Locations:

Alpine, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$11,000,863 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Largo Entertainment, JVC Entertainment Networks, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite having a starring role in many films before this one, this is the first movie in Joe Pesci's career where he received top billing.

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Goofs

When Louie Kritski first enters his apartment, he jiggles a sink faucet, shortly after which water explodes out from the drain. However, immediately after the second explosion, a close-up shows the water level is visibly higher than it was before.

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Quotes

Louie Kritski: Wat are you, spying on me?
Tito: No.
Louie Kritski: You casing this joint so the brothers can rob it later?
Tito: [sarcastically] Yeah, you really got some choice stuff here. We can't wait to get our hands on it.
Louie Kritski: How come you're not in school, kid?
Tito: It's Saturday.
Louie Kritski: Yeah? Then why aren't you out playing basketball or break dancing?

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Connections

References Candid Camera (1960)

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Soundtracks

"The Super"
Written and performed by Kenn Michael

User Reviews

Very funny!

This is a pretty straight-forward comedy. Son wants to please his hard-nosed, cheap father by being the cheapest building owner he can be. But as he is sentenced to live in one of his worst maintained buildings, he is forced to learn several lessons about life. Not everyone likes this type of humor, but if you liked Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie I would be sure to watch this movie. As the tight-wad Super, most of the jokes are at Pesci's character's expense. However, it still leaves room for Pesci's particular style of humor. The "love" story is pretty typical but in no way detracts from the movie. The people he becomes involved with could be anybody living anywhere in the US. There are not many recognizable names in this movie but has some familiar faces that I remember from other movies. I found this to be a hilarious movie and wholly recommend it.