Le proprio

Joe Pesci is usually a great actor. He was outstanding in Goodfellas and My Cousin Vinny, and was funny in both Home Alone movies and in Gone Fishin'. However, this movie is probably one of his pitfalls. This movie definitely had its potential for being funny. It's plot was pretty original. A superintendent forced by law to live in his run down tenement house. That's original! However, I don't know why, but it just wasn't very funny. It could've been because Pesci didn't play a spoiled adult who still takes advice from his misguided, overbearing, often wrong father. The acting may not have been too good. I don't know. It just wasn't funny. There were a few cute parts (like when Pesci dances to the M.C. Hammer music), but nothing special. Sorry, Joe, but you've had funnier movies.

The joke is a bigoted slumlord forced to live in his own building. Joe Pecci is excellent as "The Super", who gets a real education from his tenants. His red Corvette is stripped the first night. He is constantly hustled by his neighbors. Scenes such as when he goes to the local grocery to buy wine, or when his elegant girlfriend visits his dumpy apartment, are classic comedy. Vincent Gardenia as Peci's overbearing father, is a role not unlike the one he played in "Fire Sale". "The Super" is sort of a cross between "Fire Sale" and Mel Brooks "Life Stinks". The movie definitely is re watchable, and most likely will seem even funnier on repeat viewings. Highly recommended, especially for those who appreciate dark comedy. - MERK

This is a pretty straight-forward comedy. Son wants to please his hard-nosed, cheap father by being the cheapest building owner he can be. But as he is sentenced to live in one of his worst maintained buildings, he is forced to learn several lessons about life. Not everyone likes this type of humor, but if you liked Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie I would be sure to watch this movie. As the tight-wad Super, most of the jokes are at Pesci's character's expense. However, it still leaves room for Pesci's particular style of humor. The "love" story is pretty typical but in no way detracts from the movie. The people he becomes involved with could be anybody living anywhere in the US. There are not many recognizable names in this movie but has some familiar faces that I remember from other movies. I found this to be a hilarious movie and wholly recommend it.

Early 90's rendition of Hal Ashby's 1970 film "The Landlord," which is given the comic...or attempted comic treatment by Pesci as a snobby slumlord who moves in to his slum and sees the light; the error of his rich boy ways. Badly written and unbeliveable pretty much all the way through. One of Gardenia's final films.

New York slum lord Joe Pesci is sentenced to stay in the apartment complex he owns until he makes all the repairs the building needs. If he does not do this in four months time, he will go to prison. A really silly little film that shows Pesci learning how the other half lives with results that are suspect at best. A bit uneven and definitely second-rate, the only attraction here is Pesci. 2 stars out of 5.