Goodnight, Joseph Parker

This is one of the finest ensemble casts put together in the independent world. Ever. Sorvino is superb. They all are. A very solid work. Steven Tyler rips through his scenes beautifully. Like father, like daughter! Dennis Brooks has crafted a world, not unlike Cheers, where the characters all have well-worn spots in their favorite bar stools. But this is NOT Cheers, believe me. Here, everything is on edge, and as things unravel, the pain of the past gushes out into bursts of surreal nastiness.

Great writing. Strong directing. Lovely music. What else is there to say? Even the "stagy" feel mentioned in the other review works, as it feeds the claustrophobic nature of the world they are living in, and losing.

GOODNIGHT,JOSEPH PARKER (aka LAST CALL) is what every festival circuit film yearns to be: compelling, dramatic,and with a keen insight to the human spirit. I saw it at a preview screening and really liked it. Starring Paul Sorvino, Nick Chinlund and Debi Mazar, it is a film similar to Sorvino's THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. Like that film, it shows how the past never really goes away and can wreak havoc with the present. The performances are uniformly excellent--with Sorvino being both gruff and tragic. The film also has a great music score--very jazzy and more appropriate to the action than you would think. The writer, director, and producer is Dennis Brooks, whom I haven't heard of before. I get the impression that he's probably a playwright trying to cross over because the movie seems somewhat stagy. Nevertheless, it's highly visual, almost like a color WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? My big question is, why hasn't this movie been released theatrically yet?

Goodnight Joseph Parker

OK, this is a tough one. My friend possibly coined it best when as we silently left the theatre suddenly said "Well, that's about enough to make you want to open a vein." Reminiscent of Tennessee Williams and as mentioned before 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" the film wreaked of darkness, inner tensions and hopelessness.

The dirge begins in a small very dirty bar containing a washed up owner (Sorvino) , a cocktail waitress (Mazar)and one greasy loser patron (Edson).

They are arguing about where everyone went and why. Edson lets on that he has a "secret" but won't tell what it is. There is some very good camera work and especially the XCUs on Sorvino to enhance the maudlin of his character. It's intense...I'm hooked.

Then, here comes the comic relief in the form of Steven Tyler. He comes in as this scum-bucket loud-mouthed trashy punk (a part he didn't seem to have much trouble pulling off) yelling at the other loser that it was time to go. He had about a 4 minute scene in which he talked some trash, got some laughs and then made a grand exit by being chased out.

It turns out the "secret" is Joey Parker(Chinlund) is coming "home" He's a local boy gone good in the citaay. Supposed to be guesting on the Jay Leno show soon they all hear ! He turns the mood around , getting drunk and promising to do a show in the bar to bring the customers back in. The cocktail waitress is in love with him. There's singing , dancing. Then as the roller-coaster clicks to the top he asks about their old friend "Monkey".

Well, Monkey is no more and there is a lot of underlying tension about how and why. From there it plummets into a deeper and deeper funk. The ex-girl friend (Dickens) that he intends to ask to marry him shows up. She's a junkie ho-bag, her and the owner have words. She gets some cash from JP. More fantastic secrets are revealed. Entangling more and more emotions and blather of the small town life centered around this scummy bar. This went on for another half hour or so until everyone is very drunk and numerous emotional catastrophes have transpired.

Again, here comes Tyler to lighten things up. Bouncing into the room. Running his abundant mouth. The scenes almost seem like they don't fit into the big picture being so abstract from the rest of the film. Then, as quickly as he came, exit ST and return to the emotional upheaval. This went on until the very end of the movie.

Now, it may sound like I didn't like the film. That's not true. It was disturbing but it was supposed to be. The acting, the camera work and lighting were exceptional (watch for the camera movement during Joey's second encounter with with his old girlfriend). I'm impressed that it took as little time as it did to shoot and came in under budget.

I gave this film a 9 but I'm surprised that there aren't more '1's' in the voting. It's encouraging, actually. This is a smart film but it's not for everyone. The stagey feeling mentioned by others is correct and it can be a little slow at times but the writing and the acting is brilliant! If this were a larger budget film it would be nominated for Oscars for writing and acting (Sorvino, Mazar and Chinlund) and set design. Yes, that's a set!!! You would swear you were in a real Jersey bar. I lived in various parts of New Jersey all my life and I really felt like I might have been to this bar before...so I looked into it hoping that I had, only to discover it was built on a soundstage.

There are moments in this film that had me tearing up and of course, hiding the fact from my girlfriend. It's rare this happens to me and it was the writing and the acting that got to me.

I wish there were more truly independent films like this with real acting and writing. Amazing.

Steven Tyler has real ability as an actor. Because his character is so much like him, Steven didn't much of a stretch to make "Sammy" come alive. His portrayal as a shameless bad boy looking for a good time and fast woman is too much like he is in his real life.

Paul Sorvino outdoes himself. Probably one of his best performances as "Charlie".

Nick Chinlund has done very well in his television performances, but playing the part of "Joseph Parker" places Nick on the threshold of big screen greatness.

This movie needs to be seen by the public at large.