In the Soup

This enjoyable indie feature, a one of a kind crossover of Jarmusch meets Coen brothers with a touch of David Lynch proved to be a true revelation. An outsider loser played with true perfection by Steve Buscemi with his wide-eyed naiveté, lives in a dingy apartment with Tarkovsky, Goddard and Renoir on his wannabe filmmaker's mind and is suckered into a passionate relationship with a smiling gangster beautifully portrayed by the late Seymour Cassel, a role that won him a prize at Sundance for his scene-stealing turn as Joe, the small-time hood who helps aspiring filmmaker Adolpho Rollo (Steve Buscemi) make his screen bow in return for the odd favour. Cassel once claimed that the fun part of acting was "filling out a part and making it a little crazy", and this is the key to his byplay with Buscemi. Buscemi on the other hand is filming his dream with 16mm camera exactly like the Kieslowski's "Film buff" and the centerpiece of this dream is beautiful Angelica Peña, played by Jennifer Beals in a truly memorable role. Their relationship is a roller coaster ride between contempt and affection a perfect antithesis to the role Cassel plays in both their lives. Stanley Tucci has a great cameo as French oddball wannabe husband to Beals and in a scene taken directly from David Lynch his favorite little man Michael J. Anderson appears and does the trick. Not to forget couple of idiotic landlords that spark up the story and LP record step-by-step guide to dancing the Cha-Cha.

I watched this movie with widest smile and it was such a refreshing experience to see the best parts of distinctive directors I love in each scene beautifully put together by Alexandre Rockwell. It's funny, it's refreshing and relaxing. You may even simpathize wit the characters. More than recommended.

Thanks for Amazon and their: people who bought this... also bought "In the Soup",

I ordered it. I am a fan of Steve Buscemi, so "hey you got no complaints".

What a delightful surprise this movie turned out to be. The lovely Jennifer Beals has aged so gracefully (she looks even better here than in Flashdance; more rounded out character too) and Seymour Cassel should have been nominated for an Oscar in this, I believe, mostly ignored movie. Can't even find a Roger Ebert review of it, and he usually has a nose for unusual, but good movies.

Speaking of noses, Cassel is a delight who delights in existing from day to day, always ready for an adventure, a surprise, or a bit of crime and a bit of a ca-noodle. Poor Buscemi, who is a dreamer with a script for the "great American movie" and hasn't had much of a life, is at first thrilled to meet the potential film financier (Cassel), then becomes a bit frightened of him and in the end realizes he grew as a person and made some friends and possibly can make a more simplified version of his movie after all.

Don't want to give much more away. The lovely black and white vignettes, following each other quickly give you a taste of life in a squalid part of New York. It is European in execution, a bit film-noir-ish, but unique, entertaining, and touching.

The singing rent collectors are a hoot-!

Don't miss it!

Adolpho (Steve Buscemi) is a loser who wants to be a filmmaker. However, his prospects are non-existent and he has two singing gangsters threatening to break his legs unless he pays his rent. His fortune seems to have changed when he finds a guy who likes his work and wants to finance his films. But the more time Adolpho spends with Joe (Seymour Cassel) the more he realizes the guy just ain't right...plus he's a crook. Adolpho is shocked and despite the two guys threatening him, he refuses to work with Joe, as Joe just seems dangerous and bizarre. Joe simply won't take no for an answer. What's next? See the film.

This small black & white independent film is very odd. It's because although it appears to have been made for practically nothing and looks grubby, it has an amazing array of supporting actors. This includes the director Jim Jarmusch (in an acting role), Jennifer Beals, Stanley Tucci, Carol Kane and Sam Rockwell in addition to Cassel and Buscemi. Obviously the filmmakers knew people.

So is it any good? Well, it certainly never is dull as the film is jam-packed full of weird and quirky folks. You just can't ignore them--and they are captivating and it looks, at times, like a Fellini film (he was known for the 'faces' co-starring in his movies). Weird beyond belief the more you watch! The only one who came off poorly, surprisingly, was Tucci, as his accent sounded very strange. The rest were strange but entertaining....as was the entire film! My recommendation is to watch it but turn off your brain...otherwise you're bound to wonder WHAT you are seeing!

Sometimes you're kind of reluctant to watch a movie because you don't really expect anything of it, but then you end up being so pleasantly surprised! I had that experience with "In the Soup". This film truly is a little gem as mentioned before. This strange, offbeat movie grew on me with every scene I watched. Steve Buscemi is brilliantly funny as script-writer and 'wannabe' director Adolpho. Seymour Cassel is great as well but I definitely shouldn't forget to mention Jennifer Beals.. my god, how this woman made me laugh! She was pitch perfect for her role as Buscemi's cranky Latin-American neighbor Angelica, his secret love interest who he wants to star in his movie. I can highly recommend this movie, if you're a Buscemi fan, it's a "must-see" !

What a refreshing movie! Fans of oddball movies should definitely put this on the to-watch list. Aside from a hilarious cameo by Jim Jaramusch and Carol Kane, Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassell team play the roles of wanna-be filmmaker and questionable money man like they were born to. Shot in glorious black and white, the film makes a half-hearted serious turn at the end but it is too late to really make a difference in the movie. Also watch for Will Patton's turn as yet another bizarre person.