Buffalo '66 (1998)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Vincent Gallo

Writers:

Vincent Gallo (story)
Vincent Gallo (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Billy Brown just got out of jail. Now he's going to serve some real time. He's going home.

Plot:

Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Jail | Bookie | Dog | Kidnapping

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Vincent Gallo	...	Billy Brown
Christina Ricci	...	Layla
Ben Gazzara	...	Jimmy Brown
Mickey Rourke	...	The Bookie
Rosanna Arquette	...	Wendy Balsam
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Sonny
Anjelica Huston	...	Jan Brown
Kevin Pollak	...	TV Sportscaster
Alex Karras	...	TV Sportscaster
John Sansone	...	Little Billy
Manny Fried	...	The Donut Clerk
John Rummel	...	Don Shanks
Bob Wahl	...	Scott Woods
Penny Wolfgang	...	The Judge
Anthony Mydcarz	...	The Motel Clerk

MPAA:

Rated R for language, strong violent images and scenes involving nudity.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Germany:12 | Australia:MA | France:U | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Buffalo, New York, USA

Company:

Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)

Trivia:

Gallo decided to shoot on reversal stock (the equivalent of color transparency film - expensive both to buy and process), without even knowing if it was going to be developed.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Billy grabs the bread off the table, it is back on the serving plate in a different shot.

Quotes:

Goon, aka Rocky: What, you think I'm retarded or something?
Billy Brown: Yeah Goon, sometimes I really think you are.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Capital (Todo el mundo va a Buenos Aires) (2007)

Soundtrack:

With Smiles & Smiles & Smiles

Buffalo '66 is an amazing and original film: well scripted, scored, cast, directed, and acted by Vincent Gallo.

Buffalo '66 was really original in terms of both plot and style. At moments, the story of Billy Brown's life is so terribly tragic and bizarre, you almost have to break the tension by cracking a laugh. In the film, Vincent Gallo's ex-jail bird character, Billy Brown, kidnaps a young tap-dancer named Layla, played by Christina Ricci, to pose as his wife on his visit back home to his dysfunctional family. The colors are beautifully bold and somehow elegant by being so far past tacky. The film is really great.

The story is actually based somewhat on Vincent Gallo's own traumatic life. The Sinatra song that the Billy Brown's father sings to Layla in the bedroom is actually a tape of Vincent Gallo's father, Vincent Gallo, Sr. I read in an interview that Vincent Gallo has scripted another movie he hopes to direct and feature in. He is trying to get enough money to do it all himself. I am curious to see how it turns out, since this film was allegedly wound so tightly around scraps of his own life.