Dear Mr. Wonderful

1st watched 4/26/2010 -- 6 out of 10(Dir-Peter Lilenthal): Cheaply filmed but well acted and interesting story about a wannabe Las Vegas lounge-type singer played by Joe Pesci as he lives out his New York city existence. He sings at a bowling alley that he owns which has 22 lanes and a bar at the end where he does his nightly act. The story is about his family -- including his sister and her son(whom he occasionally lives with), their Jewish life(including a barmitsfa), mob forces that they deal with on a daily basis and his infatuation with a girl singer in the club. This is kind of a slice of life movie that seems to be filmed with a leading towards improvisation in the performances and has a documentary style look and feel. You find out little bits and pieces about the characters as the story progresses but you have to be patient and pay attention partly because of the bad sound in this low-budget film or you'll miss things. The acting is excellent and the story keeps you interested and there are so many characters in the film that the whole thing could have been made into a TV series or at least a mini-series to cover everything. The ending is kind of abrupt and only hints at what may happen to Ruby(the main character) but I have to recommend this movie because you learn to care about the characters as it progresses. A different character for Pesci, but he plays it very well and it shows his versatility as an actor. Don't miss this one if you'd like to see all his work -- including this nice jump away from the Hollywood mainstream.

I enjoy Joe Pesci and so I wanted to see this film which was one of his early breakout roles.

well I'm sorry to say, I wouldn't watch this movie with company, at least. It was terribly depressing. It will drive you to drink. I don't think we even finished it. It had a glitch somewhere near the end (it had syncing problems with the sound all the way through, so when it glitched near the end we called it quits). I don't even know how it ends, and I don't care. too depressing. just trust me on this one. if life already depresses you, even a little bit, you don't need this movie.

I made a list on my blog of Hidden Gems, more obscure films that shouldn't fallen between the cracks. Dear Mr. Wonderful was #1 on that list. A rather unpredictable #1 pick, ay? Why does it occupy such an esteemed place on this list? Simple...because every time I see it, I am profoundly affected in every way: emotionally, intellectually and even spiritually, and without even a single sign of manipulation or pandering from the creators. Peter Lilienthal, one of the more low-key directors of the New German Cinema movement who helmed the highly regarded Holocaust film David (1979), is one of many mid-to-high profile European directors who came to the United States to direct a film about the American experience from an "outsider's perspective". Others who have attempted this include Wenders (with Paris, Texas), Herzog (with Stroszek), Antonioni (with Zabriskie Point) and Renoir (with The Southerner). What distinguishes this one from most of the others? Lilienthal, it would seem, is more of a humanist than a pedagogue or a weary romanticist, which were both traps many of the other directors had succumbed to. In effect, many of these "outsider films" ultimately become ponderous novelties and/or analytically specious.

Dear Mr. Wonderful is an exquisitely simple film, deliberately paced, more generous with thorough character development than most any other element, although Michael Ballhaus' camera-work, even in its shoddy video pan-and-scan, is certainly handsome. Pesci, in his first starring role after his success in Raging Bull, stars as Ruby Dennis, a Jewish working-class dreamer who owns a bowling alley where he croons Rat Pack-style songs in a lounge area adjacent to where people bowl. He writes and composes his own songs, then belts out old Sammy Cahn tunes with a drink in one hand and a cigarette he doesn't smoke in the other, and dreams of hitting the big-time as a Las Vegas headliner, which he seems to know down deep is a major pipe dream. Pesci's singing voice leaves something to be desired (that is certainly the point of it, however, although his songs are catchy and some like New York Times critic Janet Maslin have actually complemented Pesci's singing voice, so maybe I am the one who is off). It should be noted that Pesci, in real life, was a child singing star who released an album called "Little Joey Sings" (you can't make this stuff up). Ruby lives with his sister Paula (Karen Ludwig, who played Meryl Streep's partner in Manhattan) and her son Raymond (Evan Handler). He spends a great deal of screen time wooing a promising aspiring singer named Sharon (Ivy Ray Browning, who has a lovely voice). His bowling alley is in danger of closing. Credit is being withdrawn and equipment is being slowly taken away by loan sharks (led by Scorsese regular Frank Vincent) who have a very apparent distaste for the "singing kike" Ruby who is more consumed with his lounge-singing than concerned with running a business ("Tell them not to bowl in the outer lanes when I'm singing. Just tell them nicely, 'The man is singing.'") This is something else worthy of mention. Dear Mr. Wonderful has an unabashedly Jewish flavor, which is something to notice because of how refreshingly anomalous it seems, particularly in a day when explicitly Jewish voices were customarily being downplayed or downright eliminated in cinema here and abroad, lest there was a megastar involved or the Jewishness was the driving force or the subject of the given film. Here, in this film, it is part of a much broader canvas, a richer and more encompassing one. The film opens with a simultaneously good-humored and tense Passover seder sequence which rather immediately immerses and absorbs the viewer in the world of the movie. A fish swims around in a shallow bathtub and Pesci kills it with a baseball bat (offscreen) for dinner. In keeping with the alleged Jewish subtext, ultimately the film is also, unequivocally, a thoughtful, complex meditation on a Talmudic precept which states, "A rich man is he who is content with what he has" (which makes sense considering director Lilienthal's Orthodox Jewish background). This meditation is not simply on Ruby's character, but also on the character of Ruby's sister, who leaves her family behind to "save the world" through an underprivileged co-worker of hers, and through Ruby's nephew, who turns to snatching gold necklaces right off of the necks of ladies in the street. The film possesses that quiet kitchen-sink flavor, and the humor of the scenes always keeps you rooting for everyone, despite themselves. The New York City of the film, which I discuss in the respective blog entry, is one that is lost today (it should be noted that while there are plenty of NYC exteriors, a great deal of the interiors were shot in Germany).

One of the most heartbreaking movie scenes of the 1980's, in my opinion, and one where you can almost physically feel the character's humiliation, comes in Tony Martin's cameo. Real-life singer/actor Tony Martin comes to visit Ruby's Palace to listen to him sing, after his nephew Ray invites him via a letter earlier in the movie. I won't spoil the scene, but it's almost gut-wrenching, and the character's arc comes at such a moment of profound humiliation, followed by insult, followed by the most naked vulnerability. Every critic who reviewed the film mentions this scene as being among the most memorable of its era. And the film's ending...perfect understatement and a perfect open ending! I am not going to say any more about this film other than to see it and get back to me when you do. I have been dying to talk to someone about this one!

"Ruby's Dream" is one of the most "New York movies" to come out of the 80's; it is literally soaked in that New York city style, to the point where the viewer can almost smell the streets and the smoke-filled bars and pool halls of a grimy, vintage late 70's/early 80's NYC. Every character and every location used is filled with so much nostalgia and atmosphere that it is hard to imagine any native of the city, not enjoying this oddball film. Once again, Joe Pesci turns in an utterly real and believable performance as Ruby Dennis, the tacky lounge singer who dreams of being a headline performer in Vegas, like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He's doing fairly well, singing in the bowling alley that he owns, surrounded by his family, including his sister and his delinquent nephew, who also works at the bowling alley, when he isn't snatching gold chains from tourists in Times Square. This time Pesci is portraying a Jewish guy, rather than the usual Italian that he is known for, and he is utterly perfect in the role. This movie is so well-made, with amazing cinematography and high caliber acting, that it appears to have a high budget. This is a very polished, great looking production that has apparently been forgotten, and relegated to low quality dvd editions that present the film in a cropped, 4x3 picture format. This must be a real stunner in it's original widescreen format, and captures the grit of the street like "Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Cowboy." Those expecting action or a crime film might come away disappointed, as this is mainly a character study, of one man and his immediate family, all of which are interesting in their own way. Especially fascinating was Ruby's nephew, Ray, the teen criminal that looks up to his uncle, but wants to be successful in his own right, by becoming a street thug, fencing stolen goods to the denizens of the local boxing gym. And this one showcases so many scenes of a sleazy, vanished New York; the filthy boxing clubs, the off track betting places, the sex clubs and porn theaters of 42nd street, the smoke-filled bars and streets that seem to ooze an aura of criminality..truly beautiful to behold. Judging from the ridiculously low rating here, I'm guessing that this quality will only be appreciated by a certain audience. But for those who remember the golden age of New York, or just appreciate NYC movies, "Ruby's Dream" is one of the best..I think the reason the city is captured in such an idyllic, almost over the top way, is because the director is German. Therefore we get a movie that is so 'New York' that it almost becomes parody. On a side note, the version I saw clocked in at 115 minutes, so there might be different versions of this movie out there, as this site gives a shorter running time of 100 minutes.

Very odd Pesci vehicle where he sings and offers a low key performance. Many of the other actors have never been in another movie.

It's a strange slow moving character driven movie. Also notable for it's street scenes of a changing Manhattan and Bronx landscape of the early 80s. Compounding it's oddity, the movie is made by some German company and actually won an award in Germany. Supposedly the opening scenes were in German but those are cut out of the version I saw. Very cheaply made.