Film review: 'Divorced White Male'
With a craggy face and accent that makes one think he's a brother or cousin of Harvey Keitel, Italian-born rookie hyphenate Lou Volpe stars in and calls the shots as producer-writer-director-editor of "DWM (Divorced White Male)," a low-budget romantic comedy about older singles on the rebound from failed marriages.
The festival award winner with the title inspired by newspaper personal ads is making a brief theatrical appearance courtesy of Salvadal Pictures Releasing and Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica.
IRMC (Italian Romantic Movie Cliches) is an alternate title that occurs to one while watching "DWM". Even though much of the action takes place in diners, miraculously, there are no scenes with people mooning over pizzas or seductively slurping spaghetti. But, after underscoring several scenes with Italian opera music, Volpe can't get through the climax without inflicting the song "That's Amore" on the viewer.
Likewise, there are meddling friends, nightmare blind dates, troublesome ex-mates, bratty kids needing attention and so on awaiting Al (Volpe) and Amy (Lauren Bailey), decent but wounded adults whose paths cross about halfway through the movie. There's little doubt about the outcome despite late-inning complications, which include Al going to jail for trying to serenade Amy via a restaurant intercom system.
On separate narrative tracks at the outset, auto shop worker Al's saga is perhaps given more weight, but neither he nor waitress Amy is mysterious in any way. They are likable and decent and good parents, just unlucky when it comes to finding soulmates.
Volpe's direction is as uninspired as the writing, which isn't to say the film has no redeeming qualities. The performances of the leads are heartfelt, and they have a chemistry in their scenes that briefly distracts from the other performers struggling to get laughs or floundering with one-note characters.
DWM (DIVORCED WHITE MALE)
Salvadal Pictures Releasing
Perron-Powe Pictures
An Arc Angel Films production
Producer-writer-director: Lou Volpe
Producer: Tracy Mays
Director of photography: Lon Magdich
Editors: Lou Volpe, Allan Wall
Music: Christopher Guardino
Color/stereo
Cast:
Al: Lou Volpe
Amy: Lauren Bailey
Carla: Lydia De Luccia
George: Cosimo Canale
Anna: Veronica F. DiPippo
Jennifer: Susan Savage
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The festival award winner with the title inspired by newspaper personal ads is making a brief theatrical appearance courtesy of Salvadal Pictures Releasing and Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica.
IRMC (Italian Romantic Movie Cliches) is an alternate title that occurs to one while watching "DWM". Even though much of the action takes place in diners, miraculously, there are no scenes with people mooning over pizzas or seductively slurping spaghetti. But, after underscoring several scenes with Italian opera music, Volpe can't get through the climax without inflicting the song "That's Amore" on the viewer.
Likewise, there are meddling friends, nightmare blind dates, troublesome ex-mates, bratty kids needing attention and so on awaiting Al (Volpe) and Amy (Lauren Bailey), decent but wounded adults whose paths cross about halfway through the movie. There's little doubt about the outcome despite late-inning complications, which include Al going to jail for trying to serenade Amy via a restaurant intercom system.
On separate narrative tracks at the outset, auto shop worker Al's saga is perhaps given more weight, but neither he nor waitress Amy is mysterious in any way. They are likable and decent and good parents, just unlucky when it comes to finding soulmates.
Volpe's direction is as uninspired as the writing, which isn't to say the film has no redeeming qualities. The performances of the leads are heartfelt, and they have a chemistry in their scenes that briefly distracts from the other performers struggling to get laughs or floundering with one-note characters.
DWM (DIVORCED WHITE MALE)
Salvadal Pictures Releasing
Perron-Powe Pictures
An Arc Angel Films production
Producer-writer-director: Lou Volpe
Producer: Tracy Mays
Director of photography: Lon Magdich
Editors: Lou Volpe, Allan Wall
Music: Christopher Guardino
Color/stereo
Cast:
Al: Lou Volpe
Amy: Lauren Bailey
Carla: Lydia De Luccia
George: Cosimo Canale
Anna: Veronica F. DiPippo
Jennifer: Susan Savage
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/21/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.