Home Sweet Hoboken (1999)

Review by TIM the wonder horse.

On the second day of the festival I got a chance to see "Home Sweet Hoboken" on a screener tape that the filmmakers were very generous to let me borrow, since I am really a nobody. I am very thankful, because I wouldn't have been able to see it otherwise because it shows on the day I leave. Anyway, on with the film.

It's a very entertaining film with an unbelievable cast. Now, this isn't to say that the acting is extraordinary, but the simple fact that the filmmakers with who knows how much money were able to reign in who they did: Ben Gazarra, Elizabeth Ashley, Ana Gasteyer and a few others that you'll notice if you see this film. Which I do recommend, because again it is very entertaining in a playful sort of way. They don't break any new ground really, but that's not what it's about, it's about telling a goofy story that you will like. And I did.

The film is set in Hoboken hence the title and is about a family, a diamond and the trouble and fun that it will bring them. It's one of those stories that you see pretty much what's coming but I think that's there point. They throw in those few kinks here and there that keep you laughing.

It's a very nice film and the director Yoshifuma Hosoya is very capable. The way the film looks and the situations that are set up at times are a great credit to the director. Such as the scenes that mimic Hong Kong Action films with their shadowy and soft pastel colors. He even throws in a little slow motion just for good measure. Some others films that they seem to reference are the Coen brothers "Raising Arizona" that has to be the skeleton behind the two scheming grandsons specifically a cereal eating scene between them.

One of the things that I've been noticing a lot about films here is that people are beginning to use lighting in a very creative way, that makes their films appear more expensive than I'm sure they are. There are two scenes that really stand out for me simply because of the way they look, the first is of the grandson furthering there scheme but on a more personal level. The scene is shot from the side as they enter a dark room, the door they come through is lit from the hallway creating a nice frame that their silhouettes bounce about, it's something that everyone should remember. Another, is just a shot that has a lot of energy, which seem to be a camera fastened down to inside of a minivan that someone's thrown in. The vehicle's hatchback frames the shot and bounces as the person lands, while the background stays where it is. I'm sorry it's cool.

Some of the weakest points of the film are the fact that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. It jumps freely from zany and cartoonish to some kind of heartfelt stuff that just doesn't work, except to see Gazarra work the magic. Now, this is either a well planned intention or amateurish mistake. It doesn't ruin the film by any means but it is slightly distracting, cause you just there going "what the fuck am I supposed to care now?" which isn't really possible because all of the characters have been set up in a very two dimensional cartoon like characters: like the dopey younger grandson that will bumble his way through the scenes fucking stuff up, the older one who is the "brains" behind their schemes, the wacky neighbor that changes interests through each scene (I wish more could've been made out of her, but I didn't make the film so) and Gazarrra as the old school hood, who was something back in the day, but now drowns his sorrows in some dark corner of a New Jersey bar a glass of whiskey at a time. The other stuff I didn't particularly care for, you'll know when you see 'em in all there neon green luster because the jokes just weren't that funny. But, these were the only things that I really, really didn't like, because judging from the other stuff Yoshifuma could've come with something a little more creative and original. Just a thought. Just an opinion.

Anyway, the film is a wacky comedy for three quarters of it's running time and entertains with that. So, if you're in for a good cheap laugh with imagination in places then go see this movie, I think it'll work nicely to clean out your teeth between all the other more serious fare. Now, I'm not sure how they award these things when it comes time but if they do have a comedy award for best feature then I think this will be one to watch, cause like I said there is obvious imagination and skill that went into making this and again go see it, because it is worth your time, if only for Ben Fucking Gazarra.