The Super (1991)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Rod Daniel

Writer (WGA):

Sam Simon (written by)

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The judge sentenced slumlord Louie Kritski to six months in his own building. He would have been better off in jail.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Landlord | Court | Racial Slur | Rent | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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

Runtime:

84 min | USA:95 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alpine, New Jersey, USA

Company:

JVC Entertainment

Trivia:

Final performance of Vincent Gardenia.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Reflected in the window of Big Lou's car after telling his son about leaving to Tahiti.

Quotes:

Big Lou Kritski: [Louie is distributing heaters to the tenants at Big Lou's expense] They've brain washed you. Like Patty Hearst. What's next? You gonna rig it into a Disney World?
Louie Kritski: Pop...
Big Lou Kritski: Don't call me 'Pop'. I don't recognize you anymore. You're not my son. You're breaking my heart!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in How to Use Dianetics: A Visual Guidebook to the Human Mind (1992) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bombero

really quite terrible

I find it interesting that this lame and obscure comedy is praised in the user comments by foreigners and disparaged by most of the Americans. It must be related to the reasons the French think the Disorderly Orderly is the greatest film comedy ever to illuminate the silver screen. Objectively speaking, most coherent humans over the age of eight should agree that this movie is pretty lousy. Like many others, I saw it because I'm a fan of Pesci and Gardenia. But it's impossible to get past the underlying lameness of the script. All the hackneyed gags fall flat, and the spiritual growth of the irritating leading man is wholly unbelievable. It's of more interest as a case study in how a comedy can go wrong than as entertainment.