West New York (1996) User Reviews

Creativity Is Dominant In A Promising First Feature.

[rsoonsa · 7/10 · 22 February 2005]

Tom Coletti (Frank Vincent), after losing his career as a police detective, as well as his marriage, due to alcoholism has defeated that demon and is employed supervising the shredding of corporate bonds issued on a New Jersey bank, but when Tom becomes a victim of temptation he removes some of the negotiable issues to sell and becomes trapped between purchasing gangsters to whom he turns, and a local syndicate boss resentful that such a lucrative transaction has not been offered to him. This low budget production, originally titled PAPERBLOOD, is the first effort from director Phil Gallo, also responsible for much of its script, editing, and scoring, and despite the typical visual characteristics stemming from an original 16mm. print, it is an encouraging debut for Gallo, who takes risks throughout by shifting prominence of his characters, employing frequent closeups of the New York based cast, frequently utilizing naturalistic dialogue, while even including a touch of Magical Realism for a characterization propelled plot wherein back stories have true importance, and where a perception of intensity provided by all engaged moderates the melodramatic effects of some scenes.

Yikes!

[existential · 1/10 · 8 April 2004]

Grew up and lived in West New York, NJ, and bought this DVD in hopes of finding a pretty good film with personal historical references for me. Not so. Seems they filmed from Weehawken (not West New York), showing the pre-9/11 NY skyline, but that was the high point.

I'm sorry, but the acting, aside from Vincent Pastore, was wooden or unconvincing. The dialogue is rife with the usual "F" expletives, the relationships are all over-wrought, the plot circuitous and irrational, the characters inconsistent ( what's with Frank Vincent cowering, his hands held up in acquiescence as 2 light weight thugs try to scare him? Wasn't this guy an ex-cop?) The "spirituality" of the guitar playing customer is insubstantial and seems more based in the man's past drug abuse than supernatural insight ("be careful!") OMG this is a real stinker!

Moment to remain agog at: the fight scene with Brian Burke and the 4-ton Italian mobster/gorilla is nuts, with a death match ensuing a "don't you touch me," ' "Oh yeah?!" quarrel. Gimmee a Break! As we Jersey-ans say, "fuh-gedd-aboud-dit!" Stick with "Union City," one town south of West New York. At least you get Debbie Harry! Or get down to the Jersey shore with "Atlantic City," as interpretted by Louis Malle.

Ah'm oudda hee-ah. See yuh.

An Excellent Independent Feature

[NQ19 · 9/10 · 2 February 2000]

I had the privilege of seeing this film at its debut in NYC. This is an excellent story of how a person's decision makes ripples in the lives of others. The subtle messages, masterfully placed throughout the film, are a treat for the spiritually aware and thinkers alike.

The original writing and editing, lighting, and overall production of this film set this film apart from other independent films. This professionally finished product heralds the directing debut of Phil Gallo and the exceptional writing team of Steve Bretschneider and Mr. Gallo.

For independent feature film lovers, this is the treasure that give us the motivation to continue looking for the rainbows.

Terrific - a first class production.

[photonhero · 10/10 · 4 November 2002]

An Awesome movie! If you liked Deniro, Casino, Pacino, Goodfellas etc? You gotta see this independent production! Its terrific in terms of plot development, character stylization and production values. Vincent is great as he was in Casino and Pastore is as you would expect, precursor to his Big Pussy on the Sopranos.