Last I Heard

Please ignore the bad reviews noted because the film lacked action and a mobster mentality. The film's theme is noted as a DRAMA/COMEDY and not as an CRIME/ACTION film. You negative reviewers please pay more attention and next time first read on IMDb what a films theme and story line are before jumping to conclusions. There is a vast difference between what a viewer expects to see, and what a film intends to deliver.

I for one enjoyed the film greatly and I was especially enthralled with Paul Sorvino's evolving emotions and heart warming scenes (and there were many) between Paul Sorvino, Michael Rapaport and Renee Props.

Paul Sorvino plays Joe Scoleri (he his called "Mr. Joe" to the neighborhood he has always lived in and is well respected) an ex-con who has just been released from a 20 plus year prison term for racketeering and attempted murder. Joe has one daughter Rita (played warmly by actress Renee Props) who makes sure that her father re-adjusts to life outside of the prison walls by spending lots of time with him. The fact of the matter is that Joe received an early release from prison due to his poor health and a very weak heart so his daughter Rita wants to make sure her father eats healthy and avoids any stress from his previous criminal way of life.

Mr. Joe's neighbour is a middle aged man named Bobby DiBianco (played superbly by Michael Rapaport) who has a wife and a pre-teen daughter. Bobby grew up in the house next door to Mr. Joe where Bobby's father owned a local bakery in Queens, New York. Now Bobby's parents have retired and moved to the sunny south of the state of Florida and handed over the family home and their bakery business that they worked their entire life to their son Bobby who shares his parents values, of working hard and respecting his elders.

This is most likely where I differ from the other reviewers who were expecting to see a mobster film. The story line is focused on how this ex-convict with a bad heart Joe Scoleri, is being closely monitored by his parole officer (played by Steven Bauer) named Ramirez weekly home visits where he is humiliated into peeing into a bottle for a sample of his urine to make sure he is drug free and where two FBI agents are speaking to everyone in the neighborhood with a view to making an imminent arrest when Mr. Joe makes his first foray into his past criminal activities.

Gradually we see how the influence of Joe's daughter Rita's chosen lifestyle and live-in companion, and Joe's neighbor who was a young man when Joe was first imprisoned affect his own mindset of past generations of the Italian values and most importantly, that respect and understanding are earned and not given for past reputations.

To some the film's ending may seem abrupt and leaving the viewer wanting more, but to me, it was a well written ending and deserving of a dramatic film with heart and lessons learned in real life situations. My only disappointment with the film was that one of my all time favorite actors, Chazz Palminteri, only had a cameo appearance playing Joe Scoleris' long time lawyer and friend who advises Joe that the world has changed and he has to get over his past way of life and enjoy the little time he has left (with his adult daughter Rita) on this planet due to his poor health.

It is a good drama and Paul Sorvino's acting is always worth watching. This film is no exception. I give the film an 8 out of 10 rating.

Paul Sorvino plays an aging mobster released from jail after two long decades and earnestly struggles to find his place amidst a rapidly changing world. This isn't a gangster movie per say, it's not even Good Fellas in a retirement home, it's more of a retrospective character piece of what an aging mobster ripped from the pillars of power and left to be mostly forgotten would subsequently face when released after so long. And I guess it begs the question in all of its soul searching and kitschy "east coast neighborhood" dialogue was this move absolutely necessary? Sorvino and Rappaport certainly play their roles well but the movie feels like it's operating in some sort of invisible sandbox that unfortunately only superficially scratches the surface of its characters, leaving us with a fairly empty feeling after it's all over. One can't help but ask what was the point exactly? The largest character arcs are written and served on a convenient platter rather than developed organically. It's certainly a different take on the gangster movie and the refreshing aspect of that point ends right there, what it doesn't do is reinvent the character study, slogging along tiredly trying to find footing somewhere. If the directors point was to give us hyper realism then it certainly beats watching someone vaccum for 90 minutes, but I think the main point is lost somewhere in another movie. So you can't teach an old dog new tricks and criminals don't change...the end. It's not completely far fetched to understand that older adults who leave prison are certainly disenfranchised, thrust into a brave new world thats busy with distraction. But Shawshank Redemption did this concept better in 15 minutes than this could do in 90. It's not a horrible movie by any regard but it's certainly missing that something to set it apart.

A very mild gangster film but interesting drama. Despite not being a typical mafia movie I found it realistic and true to life. An ageing gangster is released from jail and is subject to strict conditions to keep his freedom. He has to deal with issues as the world has changed. There was a good story with his daughter who played a really good role. It also had a great cast and some old familiar faces such as Johnny roast beef from goodfellas. All in all a chilled out mafia melodrama which I found surprisingly enjoyable.

I cannot describe how awful this movie was. It amazes me that they were able to get good (note I say good, not great) actors like Michael Rappaport & Sorvino with a script that a first grader could have written after having watched Goodfella's once.

There is absolutely no arc to the story. Sorvino must have been trying to reclaim his goodfella's glory in order to agree to be in this turd.

Nothing more can be said except to avoid watching at all costs. Even if your a huge gangster movie fan (such as I) avoid this film. You and your PCP smoking neighbor could have written a better script in between digging through your mother's sofa cushions for spare change.

This was billed as a comedy drama, it was neither. It was 1 hour 41 minutes of shear boredom.

Bad acting, bad screenplay an all round bad movie. How this drivel got a 6.2 score is unbelievable.

Do yourself a favour and steer clear of this lemon.

This surely had to be a straight to DVD release as there is no way this thing could have done anything at the cinemas.

It is basically a movie about absolutely nothing.

The strained continuous crying scenes were pitiful to watch. The characters were one dimensional unconvincing, and just made you dislike them altogether.

Some of the more fantastic scenes involved character talking to each other without any audio other than music. Extremely annoying and must be just there to pad this rubbish out a bit.