Safe Men (1998)

Director:

John Hamburg

Writer (WGA):

John Hamburg (written by)

Release Date:

7 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Welcome to the world of disorganised crime.

Plot:

Two untalented singers are mistaken for a pair of major league safe crackers in Providence, Rhode Island...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Rosh Hashanah | Bar Mitzvah | Crime Boss | Organized Crime

Cast

Sam Rockwell	...	Sam
Steve Zahn	...	Eddie
Michael Lerner	...	Big Fat Bernie Gayle
Paul Giamatti	...	Veal Chop
Michael Schmidt	...	Bernie Jr.
Christina Kirk	...	Hannah
Mark Ruffalo	...	Frank
Josh Pais	...	Mitchell
Harvey Fierstein	...	Leo
Michael Showalter	...	Larry
John Hamburg	...	Philip
Raymond Serra	...	Barber
Ray Iannicelli	...	Swoop
Ali Marsh	...	Sherry
Jacob Reynolds	...	Ira
Peter Dinklage	...	Leflore
Mark Shanahan	...	Party Coordinator
Emily Doubilet	...	'Sweet' Denise Schneider
Sidney Zubrow	...	Pappy
Adam Moreno	...	M.C. Victor (as Mr. Blue)
Ellen Hauptman	...	Joyce Kaufman (as Ellen M. Hauptman)
John Tormey	...	Older Guy
Don Picard	...	Gunter
Dee Dee Friedman	...	Barbara
Carl Don	...	Hyman
Seth Herzog	...	Gold Trophy
Allen Swift	...	Sol
Richard Bolster	...	Gold Trophy
Brian Mullen	...	Himself signing autographs
Ian Helfer	...	Janusz
Eric Bogosian	...	Edward Templeton Sr. (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marina Kotovnikov	...	Bar Mitzvah Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
John Hamburg

Writing credits (WGA)
John Hamburg		(written by)

Produced by
Ellen Bronfman	....	producer
Jeffrey Clifford	....	producer
Jonathan Cohen	....	producer
Andrew Hauptman	....	producer
Eva Kolodner	....	line producer

Original Music by
Theodore Shapiro

Cinematography by
Michael Barrett

Film Editing by
Suzanne Pillsbury
M. Scott Smith

Casting by
Avy Kaufman

Production Design by
Anthony Gasparro

Art Direction by
Ondine Karady

Set Decoration by
James Clauer

Costume Design by
Catherine Marie Thomas		(as Cat Thomas)

Makeup Department
Rita Da Silva	....	additional hair stylist
Rita Da Silva	....	additional makeup artist
Kyra Panchenko	....	key hair stylist
Kyra Panchenko	....	key makeup artist
Ariyela Wald-Cohain	....	assistant hair stylist
Ariyela Wald-Cohain	....	first assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Doreen A. Dixon	....	post-production supervisor
Katie Roumel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Grant	....	second assistant director
Brian Jude	....	second second assistant director (as Brian Jude Piatkowski)
Julian Petrillo	....	additional first assistant director
John M. Tyson	....	additional first assistant director
Rob York	....	first assistant director (as Robert York)

Art Department
Syd Butler	....	art assistant
Dan Castelli	....	model maker
Christopher Doogan	....	scenic artist (as Chris Doogan)
Sherief Elkatsha	....	set dresser
Gretchen Gnaeding	....	set dresser
Bret Hammen	....	original artwork: sports
Drew Hubner	....	swing
Akeo Ihara	....	property master
Chad Johnson	....	art assistant
Julian Laverdiere	....	specialty prop designer/builder
Vincent Mazeau	....	art direction: sets & props
Katy Petty	....	art coordinator
Katy Petty	....	on-set dresser
Adam Raymont	....	scenic artist
Andrea Stanley	....	carpenter coordinator
Roxy Toporowych	....	art assistant
Julian Verdiere	....	art direction: sets & props

Sound Department
Stephen Altobello	....	foley recordist
Coll Anderson	....	sound mixer
Michael C. Casper	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Mike Casper)
John T. Cucci	....	foley mixer (as John Cucci)
Mike Decker	....	additional boom operator
Joe Dohner	....	sound re-recording assistant (as Joseph Dohner)
Andrew Edelman	....	additional sound mixer (as Andy Edelman)
Elizabeth Henderson	....	foley artist (as Beth Henderson)
William Hooper	....	foley editor
Jason Kaplan	....	assistant sound editor
Jeanette King-Segnini	....	audio post coordinator
Andrew Kris	....	adr recordist (as Andy Kris)
Daniel J. Leahy	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dan Leahy)
Richard LeGrand Jr.	....	supervising sound editor
Kendall McCarthy	....	assistant audio post
Bob McNabb	....	sound effects editor (as Robert McNabb)
Dan O'Connell	....	foley artist
James Palumbo	....	assistant sound editor
David Pastecchi	....	boom operator (as Dave Pastecchi)
Dave Paterson	....	foley editor
Mary Ellen Porto	....	sound editor
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound designer
Reilly Steele	....	sound re-recording engineer
Tony V. Stevens	....	dolby sound consultant
Samuel Webb	....	first assistant sound editor
Juan Carlos Zaldívar	....	supervising sound editor

Stunts
Roy Farfel	....	stunt rigger
Manny Siverio	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter S. Abraham	....	Steadicam operator (as Peter Abraham)
Joe Arcidiacono	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Joe Archidiacono)
Joe Arcidiacono	....	camera operator: second camera
David Ariniello	....	best boy grip
David Ariniello	....	dolly grip
Cesar Baptista	....	rigging grip
Scott Barnard	....	third assistant camera (as J Scott Barnard)
Gregory Blum	....	rigging grip
Hugo Bonilla	....	additional grip
Jenny Carchman	....	additional stills
Abigail Cohen	....	additional stills
Ian Cohen	....	additional electrician
Christina Conroy	....	additional electrician (as Christina Konroy)
Moira Demos	....	third electrician
Vincent Dow	....	additional electrician
Matthew W. Flannery	....	second assistant camera
Christopher B. Green	....	first assistant camera
Lloyd Handwerker	....	additional first assistant camera
James Harker	....	additional electrician
James Janowsky	....	fourth grip
Chris Karlof	....	best boy
James Levine	....	still photographer
Steven Lubensky	....	first assistant camera
Charles McEntee	....	third grip
Martin Nowlan	....	additional best boy electric
Steve Ramsey	....	additional electrician
Edward Read	....	key grip (as Edward I. Read)
Antonio Rossi	....	assistant camera: second camera
Antonio Rossi	....	b camera assistant
Damon Salerno	....	additional grip
Joyce Schneider	....	electric intern
Melissa Soltis	....	second assistant camera
Joia Speciale	....	additional first assistant camera (as Joia M. Speciale)
Nathan Thoma	....	additional best boy electric (as Nathan C. Thoma)
James Thorne	....	gaffer (as Jim Thorne)
Clarissa Weiss	....	additional electrician (as Clarissa C. Weiss)
Gregory Scott Williams Jr.	....	electric intern (as Gregory S. Williams)

Casting Department
Karen Etcoff	....	extras casting
Susan Fried	....	extras casting
Julie Lichter	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lisa Grosso	....	wardrobe assistant
Pamela Kezal	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
John Alagna	....	optical editor: Effects House
Sarah Brockhoff	....	first assistant editor (as Matthew Brockhoff)
Ray Bushey III	....	post-production assistant
Lisa Cossettini	....	first assistant editor
John Dicker	....	assistant editor
Cindy McGraw Dircks	....	edit intern
Jeff Kaplan	....	titles
Bob La Rossa	....	color timer
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative matcher
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Jeffrey Allen	....	musician: bass
Johnny Caruso	....	music editor
Thomas Drescher	....	music editor
Thomas Hudson	....	musician: cello
John Katovsich	....	music coordinator
Ann Kline	....	associate music supervisor (as Ann Karlin)
Jerry Krenach	....	musician: drums and percussion
Michelle Kuznetsky	....	music supervisor
Teresa MacDonell	....	musician: french horn
Jeffrey Milarsky	....	musician: percussion
Peter Nashel	....	score producer
Jonathan Newman	....	music preparation
Alberto Parrini	....	musician: cello
John Patterson	....	mix engineer
Mary Ramos	....	music supervisor
Paul Riggio	....	musician: french horn
Larry Saltzman	....	musician: guitars
Chad Yarbrough	....	musician: french horn

Transportation Department
Kevin Flynn	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Anna Abrahams	....	assistant: Mr. Hauptman and Ms Bronfman
Anna Abrahams	....	product placement
Anna Abrahams	....	production associate
Olly Blackburn	....	additional production assistant
René Brar	....	intern
John Breglio	....	legal
Patrick Carone	....	intern
Dane Carson	....	craft service
John Chamberlin	....	location manager
Leonid Choub	....	intern
Jeremiah Clancy	....	additional production assistant
Ivana Damjanov	....	production accountant
Mary Dearth	....	banking services
Cindy McGraw Dircks	....	key office production assistant
David DuBois	....	consultant: safe cracking
Jeffrey Dutemple	....	additional production assistant
Elaine Epstein	....	additional craft service
Debby Feuerman	....	intern
Alexander Ghali	....	intern
Samanta Giblin	....	production assistant
Sophie Goldson	....	intern
Deborah Goldstein	....	assistant production office coordinator
Ryan Goldstein	....	intern
Chuck Googe	....	legal
Roy Griffith	....	intern
Richard Heller	....	additional legal
Sarah Hendler	....	intern
Sarah Hendler	....	office production assistant
Janet Henry	....	assistant location manager
Hooky Hollywood	....	production assistant
Kristin Hondros	....	production office coordinator
Nicki Infante	....	production accountant
Amanda Katz	....	intern
Chris Lally	....	production assistant
Christopher Lee	....	intern
Rob Mackey	....	additional production assistant
Sam McConnell	....	intern
Charlie McCormack	....	tutor
Christine Miller	....	banking services
Symon Mink	....	production assistant
Ko Nilzuma	....	parking coordinator
Nicole Petitpierre	....	continuity supervisor
Karen Robson	....	additional legal
Vlad Rodov	....	intern
Patricia Salazar	....	intern
Marc Scott	....	intern
Craig Seti	....	video dailies
Monica Sheldon	....	publicist
Nazgol Shifteh	....	intern
Michael Sibley	....	location scout
Jared Siller	....	location assistant
John Sloss	....	additional legal
Sandy S. Solowitz	....	heavyworks technical support
Brian Steinberg	....	production assistant
Nancy Swartzman	....	intern
Derek J. Tabacco	....	production assistant
Lewis Tchong	....	intern
Sally Thurer	....	intern
Mark Urman	....	publicist
Nancy Willen	....	publicist
Randal Williams	....	additional production assistant
Terri Williams	....	banking services
Jeff Yurro	....	additional tutor
Trevor Engelson	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Andell Entertainment
• Blue Guitar Films

Distributors

• October Films
• United International Pictures (UIP) (France)
• United International Pictures (UIP)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (Spain) (1999) (Spain) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2007) (Italy) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Effects House, The  opticals
• Magno Sound and Video  video dailies
• Number Seventeen  titles
• One Step Up  foley recorded at
• Paris Studios  grip and electrical equipment provided by
• REI Media Group  titles (as Rei Media)
• Sound One Corporation  sound mixing facility
• T.H.E. Tools  editing system
• Universal Studios Sound Facilities  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:U | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:T | USA:R | Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Andell Entertainment

Trivia:

Director John Hamburg and actor Michael Showalter were college roommates.

Quotes:

Frank:(on the phone with Hannah) I'm wearing a mustache now. It's growin' in real good.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: 65 Million Years Off (#2.2)" (2007)

Affectionate Ode to the Deluded Loser

When a movie has so much good natured humor and generally a lot of heart one can forgive anything. While it has extremely low production values and obviously made on an equally low budget, the sheer fun of it all makes this a movie that many have great affection for.

Sam Rockwell's well proven off kilter charm is used to great effect. He's paired beautifully with Steve Zahn as the pitiful singing duo coerced into a life of crime. They are supported by a number of equally engaging characters such as Michael Lerner's overbearing Jewish mobster, Mark Ruffalo's soft hearted safe cracker and best of all Paul Giamatti's "Veal Chop". Giamatti is hilarious as well as touching as the mobster's incapable lackey.

"Safe Men" is an affectionate ode to deluded losers. These characters are losers simply because they are desperately trying to be something they are clearly not cut out for. They are basically a bunch of good guys on the wrong track. Lerner's gangster threatens all sorts of mean acts, but ultimately just wants to give a big hug to all. Zahn's character has a strong inkling something is amiss when after years of trying to hit the big time they are playing to a very silent senior citizen audience. Rockwell, the king of deluded losers, tries to placate him with the explanation that it's a Polish custom to show appreciation by remaining silent.

Maybe it appeals to the delusions that most of us at some point or another are subject to. Whatever; this may be a small, slight movie, but its an immensely enjoyable one.