Corky Romano (2001)

The loser son of a Mafia honcho must go undercover for the FBI.

Director:

Rob Pritts

Writers:

David Garrett, Jason Ward

Stars:

Chris Kattan, Vinessa Shaw, Peter Falk

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Kattan	...	Corky Romano
Vinessa Shaw	...	Agent Kate Russo
Peter Falk	...	Francis A. Romano
Peter Berg	...	Paulie Romano
Chris Penn	...	Peter Romano
Fred Ward	...	Leo Corrigan
Richard Roundtree	...	Howard Shuster
Matthew Glave	...	Agent Brick Davis
Roger Fan	...	Agent Bob Cox
Dave Sheridan	...	Agent Terrence Darnell
Michael Massee	...	Angry Gunman
Vincent Pastore	...	Tony
Fiona Hale	...	Florence
Kip King	...	Dr. Kipper
Al Eben	...	Dale

Storyline

A naive, bumbling veterinarian named Corky Romano the outcast son if a Mafia boss, is recruited by his family to infiltrate the FBI and steal any and all evidence that will put his cranky father named Francis A. "Pops" Romano in jail! But he's in way over his head when he's made out to be a super agent. It's a reputation must live up to as he tries to fake his way through one tough assignment after another while hunting for the elusive incriminating proof of his father's illegal activities.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi | mafia | undercover | mobster | veterinarian | 

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Taglines:

Who is Corky Romano?

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for drug and sex-related humor, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese Spanish Thai

Release Date:

12 October 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corky Bonono

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,023,173 (USA) (12 October 2001)

Gross:

$23,978,402 (USA) (8 February 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the fact that this was filmed in the standard spherical format, "Filmed in Panavision" is listed in the end credits.

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Goofs

The police dog's water dish moves just before the dog grabs the cocaine.

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Quotes

Leo: The family needs you!

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Connections

Referenced in Bollywood Hero: Episode #1.1 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"L O V E"
Written by Bert Kaempfert and Milton Gabler (as Milt Gabler)
Performed by Nat 'King' Cole
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Quirky Romano

Corky Romano's ambition is to get the cheapest laughs. I'm a sucker for slapstick humor, but it only works if you have either two great comedy actors who have shining chemistry (Farley and Spade in Black Sheep) or you have a group of actors who get into mischief when they're trying not to (The Three Stooges).

With that being said, Corky Romano doesn't measure up to great comedy, and in the slapstick genre it is only standard fare. Kattan is fine, but not memorable. Mostly because the humor we are faced with is defined in a scene where we see Corky (Kattan) working as a veterinarian and mindlessly running into things left and right. Going back to Black Sheep, there is a scene where Chris Farley closes an old couple's trunk and his tie gets caught. The couple takes off without noticing Farley's character is stuck. That was better and funnier because Farley was trying to be serious and was trying to avoid trouble. He wasn't deliberately doing something over and over again.

That's the true moral here; slapstick is funny when you put characters into situations they really don't want to be a part of.

The plot: Peter Falk is typecast as a mob boss who is on trail, but has coincidentally fallen very ill. Desperate to erase any evidence of his wrong doing, he hires his son Corky who neglected the mob business at a young age unlike his other siblings. Corky is a simple guy, but trouble has a way of finding him. Corky is persuaded by his father and his brothers, who take him undercover and change his named to Corky Pissant (pronounced Pee-sawnt). Now, Corky is still his same old, oddball roots, but the only difference is his name and his setting.

At an incredibly short eighty-six minutes, Corky Romano doesn't accomplish a whole lot. The ending is contrived, the only thing likable about the lead is his innocence, and even two all star actors like Peter Falk and Fred Ward can hardly believe they're in such a film.

If Corky Romano has included a less attention demanding character, more scenes that revolved around the family, and maybe even gave Corky a sidekick it all would've worked out favorably. The problem is that Chris Kattan is a one man show. His character isn't built to occupy more than a few minutes before cutting to someone or something else.

Although it was just a ho-hum experience, Corky Romano did give me the strangest feeling I've felt in a film in a long time. The fact that the film is named after a character who is barely capable of a feature length film, when other characters in the film are more interesting than him personally.

Starring: Chris Kattan, Viness Shaw, Fred Ward, and Peter Falk. Directed by: Rob Pritts.