Phil Leotardo

Lucky Man
$9.98
Lucky Man (2007) from Ruvin Orbach, is a 30 minute film that is
perhaps not as interesting, as it can be useful for those involved, in
showing their skills and getting financing for future projects
in the underworld film genre.

Overall, the story is fine, (although reminiscent of Martin
Scorcese's work MEAN STREETS), in that the story follows over 30
mins, the life of a compulsive gambler, shooting craps in back
rooms, and losing all his money, incurring losses and the wrath
of collectors of illegal debts aka "the muscle".

All the ingredients are here: an introverted outlook on life,
from being born, raised and socialized exclusively in a
particular area of Brooklyn, the tradition of Catholicism,
muggings, beatings, loan sharking, middle and high level
management overseeing various underground profitable
activities in their restaurant back rooms, various rival mob
families, etc.

From an outsider's point of view, the fascination is more in
contemplating the total lack of defense that some individuals have
from the pleasures and thrills of gambling and games of chance,
despite the extremely unlikely possibility of beating those
odds or winning anything now or in the future.

The music is appropriate, as is the pacing of the action and
the scene locations. Vincent Pastore's presence is perfectly
fine while Frank Vincent is dazzling as a high-power crime boss running
operations and deciding on the strategies of his crew, etc.

Lastly, the only weakness, is the total grainy quality of the DVD
release, which is unexplicable, despite a perfect lighting of
each and every scene filmed, and so on.

PROFILES featuring Frank Vincent
$17.95
Profiles host Mickey Burns interviews actor Frank Vincent. For over 30 years Frank Vincent has starred in such films as "Raging Bull", "Casino", "Do The Right Thing" and "Goodfellas" and most recently he received critical acclaim for his role as the feared New York Capo Phil Leotardo on the HBO award-winning series "The Sopranos".Before acting, Frank Vincent made his living as a professional musician. At one point he had his own band and in the late 60's he hired a guitar player named Joe Pesci.This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.