The Florentine (1999)

The bar in an old Pennsylvania steel town, housed with many of life's losers and disillusioned men, is the main setting for this slice-of-life film. Michael Madsen is the bar owner, who is ... See full summary »

Director:

Nick Stagliano

Writers:

Tom Benson, Damien Gray

Stars:

Jeremy Davies, Virginia Madsen, Luke Perry

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Davies	...	Truby
Virginia Madsen	...	Molly
Luke Perry	...	Frankie
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Vikki
Michael Madsen	...	Whitey
Chris Penn	...	Bobby
Hal Holbrook	...	Smitty
Tom Sizemore	...	Teddy
James Belushi	...	Billy Belasco
Maeve Quinlan	...	Claire
Lillo Brancato	...	Pretty
Robert Downs	...	Short order cook / diner owner
Burt Young	...	Joe Mc Collough
Jerome Le Page	...	Paris
Kenny Marino	...	Chickie

Storyline

The bar in an old Pennsylvania steel town, housed with many of life's losers and disillusioned men, is the main setting for this slice-of-life film. Michael Madsen is the bar owner, who is deep in debt to the town's book-maker and loan shark Burt Young. Chris Penn is one of the bar's main inhabitants as he hides from his failing marriage to Mary Stuart Masterson. The bartender's sister (Virginia Madsen) is about to be married, and her former fiancé (Tom Sizemore) shows up in town, after leaving her at the altar years before. Con man James Belushi runs a con on Perry to steal the money for the wedding caterer. As every plot in this multi layered story seems to be at it's worst, things look up because of an unlikely hero.

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Plot Keywords:

bar | independent film

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

A bár

Filming Locations:

Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope, Nazz Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Aims High

This movie tries to be great. It does not succeed but I'll take an effort like this over much of the movies I see out of Hollywood. I was reminded a great deal of the Deer Hunter (scenes in the PA town) in the look and feel of the movie. Beautiful acting by the great cast is the real strong point of this movie. The performances by Mike Madsen, Virginia Madsen, Tom Sizemore, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jeremy Davies and Chris Penn are believable. The movie has some great shots and an incredible soundtrack lead by Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen. My only complaint is that it seems to have too much going on. There are at least seven different subplots in the movie. I got the feeling that much was cut out to make it to the 100 minute run time. This movie should have been allowed to be three hours. This is not the fault of the filmmakers. This is well worth the price of a rental or a purchase.