Two Bits

I tend to be a sucker for coming-of-age dramas like these, and this is one of the good ones. The premise of a boy wanting to accumulate 25 cents to go to the movies is simple but engaging and effective. Modern day viewers might look at his quest as stupid and redundant, but that's easy to say when you have enough money to go the movies every weekend. To this little boy, it's his dream to go to the new local cinema on opening day. Plus, in the days of the depression, the cinema meant much more than it does now. Nowadays, people don't respect the institution. You see people put their feet up on the chairs in front of them, throw popcorn at the screen, shamelessly talk amongst themselves and to give a thoroughly modern example, let their cell phones ring. I think it was Gene Siskel, who said the most beautiful sight is seeing a movie audience as the screen shines over them and their eyes are glued to the screen. Cinema just had that magical feeling to people. So though I was born five decades later, I was still able to put myself in the main character's shoes.

Joseph Stefano, known mostly for his screenplay for "Psycho," wrote this nice character-driven drama that took me on a journey. Of course, that's also thanks to the child actor who played the main character. He has a certain authenticity to him that not all child actors have. If a child actor can say his lines like he means them and deliver emotions without dialogue, he's doing a good-enough job. Not only that, but he holds his own opposite the brilliant Al Pacino. Like always, Pacino gives a powerful performance, and I felt the character he played was different and unique. This time he's not a gangster or a cop. Though he has a supporting role, he makes his screen time memorable. Mary Elizabeth (I'm not gonna attempt to say her last name) is great as well.

The situations our protagonist gets into are sometimes funny, sometimes sad. As trivial as his quest to get 25 cents may seem, I wanted him to accomplish it. The ending is sad, though not unexpected. Mainly, it's the richly developed characters and their interactions that make this a solid film.

My score: 8 (out of 10)

This movie reminded me of some foreign films I own, low-key films which feature nice storytelling. There are no good guys vs. bad guys, no action, no blood, no sex: just a story of a day back in the Depression era in South Philadelphia.

The story centers around a young boy "Gennero" (Jerry Barone) trying to raise "two bits" (25 cents) to see a movie. It features his dying grandfather, played nicely by Al Pacino. Along the way the 12-year-old encounters interesting people and events. Pacino dishes out the usual grandfatherly advice and well meaning-but-on-Biblical theology ("God puts a brick on your house in heaven every time you do a good deed and he takes one away when you are bad.") Some have criticized Pacino for taking this role. I guess they want him to be a cop in every film. Well, he's a great actor and shows his diversified talents well in here. Whatever.....this film is loaded with charm and a nice story that's like a good book: hard to put down once you start.

At 84 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome, either. Even though there is little profanity, I would not recommend this as family fare because the film touches on a disturbing doctor and his wife.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and glad to see it's out on DVD now, too.

This film is really good. If you like Italian, if you have a touch of sentimentalism in you, if you like Pacino (who doesn't)& if you're nostalgic for films about yesteryear (1930's, The Great Depression), then this one'll be a treat for you.

Twelve year old Gennaro wants to go to the "air-cooled" La Paloma Movie House. He needs 25 cents but money is hard to come by at this time. The kid is resourceful though. He's willing to work for his goal. Jobs are scarce & people are dying from lack of food & things they cannot afford like medicine. "Grampa Pacino" is on his death-bed out in the back yard but he 'can't die' until he gets forgiven for something he did decades ago. He gets his grandson to ask the person for forgiveness - THEN he can have the 25 cents.

I really like the closeness of these two characters. I don't know where this young Jerry Barone (Gennaro) came from but he's a good actor & he's handsome. (He could probably play Hispanic, too.) So enjoy a bit of the old country with Two Bits. You'll be surprised. There's nothing' sappy about it. It's for everyone...

As an Al Pacino fan I thought I'd seen everything he's done. I'd never heard of Two Bits until I saw it today. I found it to be a well-done, heartwarming, bittersweet movie that anyone with a heart should enjoy. This movie proves once again that sometimes the lesser-known, "smaller" movies are truly the best ones.

The last line in the movie had tears falling from our eyes. We LOVED this movie. It kept us interested throughout! The realism of Philadelphia was wonderful, especially since it was supposed to be many years in the past. Acting superb, content holding, message eye opening. all in all, a movie we never expected to be so good, was in fact, heart warming. Joe and Lydia