Friends and Family (2001)

Director:

Kristen Coury

Writer:

Joseph Triebwasser (writer)

Release Date:

17 June 2004 (Israel)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Meet the real gay mafia!

Plot:

A gay couple are hit men for the mafia.

Plot Keywords:

Gay Couple | Gay | Mafia | Hired Killer | Mafia Boss

Cast

Greg Lauren	...	Stephen Torcelli
Christopher Gartin	...	Danny Russo
Rebecca Creskoff	...	Jenny Patrizzi
Edward Hibbert	...	Richard Grayson
Allison Mackie	...	Cheryl
Meshach Taylor	...	Bruno
Beth Fowler	...	Ada Torcelli
Frank Pellegrino	...	Mr. Torcelli
Johnny Russo	...	Max
Sam Coppola	...	Carlo Ricci
Mike Arotsky	...	Unruly Customer (as Mike Arotzky)
Michael Squicciarini	...	Ray (as Michael 'Scuch' Squiciarini)
Frank Minucci	...	Leo
Richard Petrocelli	...	Eddie
Elisa Heinsohn	...	Tanya / Singer at Banquet

Also Known As:

Friends & Family (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Norway:11 (TV rating)

Company:

Belladonna Productions

Quotes:

Marvin Levine: So what does that make Patrizzi? A fairy godfather?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Sound of Music (1965)

Soundtrack:

You Can't Surprise Me

Original Comic Twist on Old Theme

The cliche? A surprise visit from Mom and Dad sends a gay couple into a tizzy. The twist? Mom and Dad KNOW Stephen & Danny are happy and gay and have no problem with it--what they DON'T know is that they work for the mafia--the Patrizzi family, as enforcers and bodyguards. In this surprise parental visit, the ruse is not acting heterosexual for Mom & Dad but acting like, well, caterers. Throw in an unexpected visit from the militia, a fierce drag queen or two and mob enforcers acting like gay cater-waiters and hilarity ensues.

This visit scenario is but one way in which this film shows and old dog some very funny new tricks. Make no mistake--this is a farcical, screwball comedy with broad humor and somewhat unbelievable situations, but it goes for the laughs and usually gets them. The writing is crisp and intelligent, the sub-plots funny and well-defined and the acting uniformly excellent, with Tony LoBianco's "Don Patrizzi" an understated stand-out.

The underlying twists--fathers disappointed in sons, secrets kept from family members, "mixed marriages" and such are played for laughs, and almost always differently than we have seen these themes played out in other films. The film does not take itself too seriously, yet it has a sweet message of love and romance and truth to ones own ideals that runs throughout and helps us get more out of the film than just laughs.

Friends & Family had a regional premiere at Austin's 14th annual Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival in September, 2001, where it played to packed houses on two nights, but this film deserves mainstream release. It is unrated, but might garner a PG-13--it has little coarse language, sexually suggestive scenes or violence (save the cartoonish sort), and is a film I would readily take my 13 year old niece and nephew to as well as Mom and Dad. Tovah Feldshuh, Anna Maria Alberghetti and Mesach Taylor co-star.

The gay characters are likable, fairly realistic, and actually the heroes of the story; the film might well serve to introduce an awareness and tolerance that is often lacking in film (and in life).