the leading man is my tpye

A lot of fun.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This film is really good. If you like Italian, if you have a touch of sentimentalism in you, if you like Pacino (who doesn't)& if you're nostalgic for films about yesteryear (1930's, The Great Depression), then this one'll be a treat for you.Twelve year old Gennaro wants to go to the "air-cooled" La Paloma Movie House. He needs 25 cents but money is hard to come by at this time. The kid is resourceful though. He's willing to work for his goal. Jobs are scarce & people are dying from lack of food & things they cannot afford like medicine. "Grampa Pacino" is on his death-bed out in the back yard but he 'can't die' until he gets forgiven for something he did decades ago. He gets his grandson to ask the person for forgiveness - THEN he can have the 25 cents. I really like the closeness of these two characters. I don't know where this young Jerry Barone (Gennaro) came from but he's a good actor & he's handsome. (He could probably play Hispanic, too.) So enjoy a bit of the old country with Two Bits. You'll be surprised. There's nothing' sappy about it. It's for everyone...

This movie is beautifully done. It is one of my favorites. It is a glimpse at another time. It is a movie about values. The whole movie is about one big day in the life of a boy growing up in the depression in Philadelphia and the wisdom his grandfather passes on. It is a touching and rewarding movie. The hopelessness of the depression comes out effectively in the movie. Gennaro and Tullio are just ordinary kids that aren't perfect. There is an interesting interplay between a child's honest selfishness and the relationship between wanting and needing. Pacino: "Your heart wants, your belly needs." Wanting is good because it requires hope. Many touching lines between Pacino (grandfather) and Barone (Gennaro). There is some humor also. Favorite line: Gennaro- "There's no milk!" See it and find out why I liked that line!

Most of the Depression stories focus on Jewish families and usually in New York. This one focuses on Italian families in S. Philadelphia. There is a lot of intelligence and insight, but the embarrassingly sentimental spin loses the inherent irony. And that music is probably the most cloyingly mawkish I have ever heard. I would pair this with "Christ in Concrete" to get an emotional balance.

This movie made me think of - the much better - King of the Hill where we see the direct environment of a rather poor kid. I don't know how they got Al Pacino for this very mediocre (almost bad) mellow movie about a kid who would do anything for a dime to go to the movies. The plot is about the relationship between the dying grandfather Pacino and the young kid during the depression. The last one was not convincing throughout the movie, but Pacino's acting was again outstanding. The make-up "tried" to make him look like an old grandpa, but it's his acting that makes him look like he was really suffering and could die every second of the movie. From the moment the movie starts i was waiting for the moment he dies and whispers his last words to his grandson. There are original parts in the story, but not enough. This is a movie for Pacino fans and younger kids. A last positive thing: no matter how mellow a movie is, if it contains a story, you can learn from it!