Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (1998)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Richard Schenkman

Writers:

Jon Cryer (writer)
Richard Schenkman (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Two young men (Jon Cryer, Rick Stear) who have been friends since early childhood decide to go on a...

Plot Keywords:

Coney Island | Guilt | Friendship | Bumper Car | Homelessness

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Jon Cryer	...	Daniel
Rick Stear	...	Stan
Rafael Báez	...	Richie
Ione Skye	...	Gabby
Frank Whaley	...	Skee-Ball Weasel
Peter Gerety	...	Maurice
Akili Prince	...	Julie
Aesha Waks	...	Cindy Goldclang
Dominic Chianese	...	Mickey (The Photographer)
Susan Foster	...	Jennifer
Christina Hernandez	...	Alegra, Richie's sister
William Wise	...	Sexy Larry (The Store Owner)
Patricia Mauceri	...	Mrs. Muñoz
Leslie Hendrix	...	The Bearded Lady
Jesse Lenat	...	Jojo

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Evenmore Entertainment

Movie Connections:

References "The Six Million Dollar Man" (1974)

Soundtrack:

Hot Child in the City

A little gem of a movie that deserves to be discovered

Went To Coney Island On A Mission From God, Be Back By Five- Terrific Drama/comedy written, produced and co-starring Jon Cryer about a trio of friends in New York city that have known each other since childhood. They have lost touch as they became adults as often happens until one day two of them get news that the third is homeless and living in Coney Island. so the two take off from work "on a mission from God" (their code to play hooky from school as kids) to find their friend. So the stage is set for a journey of friendship and discovery as we see how these grown men have faced adulthood and its challenges, or more importantly, run from them. We experience their childhood through a series of flashbacks from which we gleam information that directly impacts the present day narrative such as that their missing friend may not have been heterosexual, though they knew him as a ladies man and how this led to a huge tragedy in his life. This kind of movie is hard to pull off and could easily fall into Hollywood schmaltz with a lot of weeping and teary-eyed falsehoods. But this movie avoids all that and keeps a rather hard edge at all times. Understanding that the subject matter is serious and never makes fun of its characters, or looks down on them to pull at your heart strings. The terrific acting goes a long, long way to make this all work with kudos to Cryer who essays the less flashy role of the nebbish. Newcomer Rick Steer is really good as well as his angry, alcoholic friend who has tried to hang onto their youth for all these years. Rafeal Baez is very good as the lost friend too, in a difficult role, having to play both repression and mental illness without over doing it. he does a fine job. Ione Skye is on board in a supporting role and it is always nice to see her too. Overall this is a little gem of a movie that has for some reason been overlooked for almost ten years now. Time to rectify that situation.