God's Pocket

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source: God's Pocket

It's 1978, and in a little working-class neighborhood on the south side of Philadelphia, Mickey Scarpato (Philip Seymour Hoffman) scrapes together a living as a small-time criminal alongside his best pal, Bird (John Turturro). Mickey's always been something of an outcast in God's Pocket - unlike most of its residents, he wasn't born and raised here - but his devotion to wife Jeanie (Christina Hendricks) and his ties to organized crime have at least garnered him a bit of respect. When Jeanie's son Leon (Caleb Landry Jones) turns up dead on a construction site, the police tell her it was an accident, but she doesn't buy it. Eager to please, Mickey agrees to make inquiries into the circumstances of the boy's demise, and also arrange for the funeral services - sadly, he's woefully incapable of performing either of these duties without leading to some sort of calamity. Meanwhile, a well-known newspaper columnist (Richard Jenkins) is also investigating the death, but his first meeting with Jeanie leaves him far more concerned with getting under her skirt, rather than to the bottom of the mystery. First-time director John Slattery (Mad Men) coaxes brilliant performances from the immensely talented cast he's assembled, with Hoffman's portrayal of a man broken and beaten down by life serving as a haunting reminder of the tragedy that would occur shortly after the film's Sundance debut. Hendricks is the lone weak point in an otherwise flawless cast, with her character's motivations for succumbing to the advances of an aging, alcoholic newspaperman straining the limits of credibility. Much like the neighborhood where the film takes place, God's Pocket is populated with an assortment of interesting, colorful characters that we're anxious to learn more about. It's a shame, then, that none of these characters are ever fully developed. Slattery's debut plays more like a collection of scenes rather than a completed work, leaving the audience to only ponder what lies beneath the surface.

I just saw this son Netflix and said to myself, whoa, this looks familiar and it was! I forgot I had reviewed it a year ago. In that time, it has not gotten any better. It reminds me of all of those British (Irish, Scottish) films out today, full of despicable people living despicable lives generation after generation, drinking, drugged-out, totally godless people and we are supposed to care about them. I am equally confounded how so many films today feature adultery, infidelity, etc. and yet, never do any of the couples behave as if they took any vows at all - never any searching above for answers never ever considering what marriage really means, never ever calling on any "faith" to see them through. ORIGINAL REVIEW I know it is cliché, but this is a couple of hours I will never get back. What is this flick supposed to be about anyway? The mob? A cover-up? Racism? Your guess is as good as mine. I could not say the performances were great because the storyline is lacking. Why, for example, was everyone so intimidated by Hoffman's character? Is he "connected" or what? It sure did not seem like it. What was with all the "goons" sent out to break a few legs? For what? The undertaker? One minute is is shaking in his boots, the next he has his own boys exact a little justice. The stepson? Seriously? The guy was nuttier than a fruitcake and we are supposed to believe his vestal mother (or anybody else) thought him a good boy? And again, why was everyone so afraid of Hoffman? Why were so many characters (eg Turturo) who were supposed to be tough be so apparently not? Not even in an all-mob-guys-act-tough-but-really-are-just cowards-at-heart way. The mother character (as played by that woman from Mad Men,) was embarrassing and reminded me of a performance Jayne Mansfield might have given had she been trying to prove she could "act." And the reporter guy from Six Feet Under (whose work I generally like) was a cartoon too. And why take us back to explain how the whole thing started? What "whole thing"? The huge funeral - for this little creep? Were the mourners "obligated to go" in an allegiance-to-the-mob kind of way? The horse betting? The small potatoes chits? These "big shots" who sweat over a $6,000 funeral? The "I know he didn't die like they said" stuff? I mean, come on: you'd think she'd be surprised that his body ended up in one piece! I don't know. Maybe I should have read the book, or will (might). Otherwise, calling this a dark comedy seems a bit desperate and only come up with after the creative team saw what it had. The ending seems slapped on and proves that for me. Nonsensical. I hate when I can anticipate the movie ending and not knowing what the hell I just saw. When you sit there going, huh, you mean that's it?

GOD'S POCKET (2014) ** Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, John Turturro, Eddie Marsan, Caleb Landry Jones, Peter Gerety, Lenny Venito. John Slattery's feature film directorial debut is leaves more to be desired in his adaptation of Peter Dexter's novel (he also co-wrote with Alex Metcalf the screenplay) about the ne'er-do-well's of a Philadelphia community with Hoffman (in one of his final performances) as a put-upon, debtor/bettor who attempts to bury his venal stepson while trying to keep afloat of financial troubles (i.e. gambling) while his despondent wife (Hendricks, mere window dressing) finds an unlikely suitor in the form of alcoholic journalist Jenkins. While there are practically no likable characters and half-baked dark comedy springing like crabgrass the film itself is an ugly slab of an attempt at low-rent Scorsese and Damon Runyon latter-day prototypes of losers on the down-low.

God's Pocket is worth a watch if for nothing else to see the talented Phillip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final leading roles. The film however is pretty depressing and tries too hard to be another Last Exit To Brooklyn without daring to go the extra mile regarding shock value. It's an interesting take on a story told a hundred times before, as this time the mafia thugs who are trying to extort and bully the community get chewed up and spit out by the community. We're made to believe that's because this community is so rough and tough and hardboiled and bad, but the characters don't really come across like that. The motivations of the characters are really hard to follow. One minute the main character is asking for the $700 that is owed him, the next minute (after losing everything he has on a bad horse race bet) he's acting like he doesn't want the $700 and only reluctantly taking it. And then there's the excruciatingly depressing subplot of the elderly journalist who strikes up an affair with the main character's wife, played completely vapidly by Mad Men's Christina Hendricks. The entire thing makes no sense, why she would so easily be seduced by him, how the community all knew about the affair literally moments after it happened, why she just stood there as the journalist was getting beat up at the end, showing no emotion at all. I just didn't understand what any of that had to do with anything other than they needed some narrative to create a movie that was longer than 80 minutes. Anyway, this is worth a watch. It's not completely horrible. But it's no Mean Streets either.

God's Pocket has all of three scenes that are worth viewing. Warning of spoilers but honestly this is so bad you should know whats coming. God's Pocket assembles a talented cast and wastes them on its painfully uneventful and bland script. The synopsis proposes that when Leon is killed, Mickey (Hoffman) will try to cover it up, whilst Richard (Jenkins) will dig into the truth. Unfortunately, what actually happens is Mickey spends an hour and a half dwelling over his truck while Richard uses the chance to deal with his impotent sex life by banging the grieving mother. It is a story I heavily regret subjecting myself to. God's Pocket could have easily been a fantastic conspiracy thriller/ race-class relations film. Construction workers covering up the murder of an in your face, incompetent, harassing racist by an elderly black man who just wanted to work. There were hints all the way through that this might become the great storyline, but never went anywhere. The worst part of the film is the lack of character development. Why does Richard use the chance to nail a grieving mother? Why do all the women turn on Mickey when Leon dies? The only defined character, Leon, is killed off in the first half hour. Christine Hendricks' huge bust is the most rounded character in the whole movie (no pun intended). The acting is nothing special, wasting one of the most talented actors of his generation in Phillip Seymour Hoffman on a part that not even he could delve into. John Turturro and Richard Jenkins are also given shallow characters, and whilst Jenkins looked like he was about to find a niche, he failed about halfway through his first half dead sex scene. Caleb Jones has fun as Leon, but as I said, his performance vanishes early on. The film is advertised as a black comedy, but I didn't laugh once. There was one joke I found objectively funny, and there was a moment or two that was a bit light, but overall God's Pocket is a meandering drama with no real story. Its a film about community, like Affleck's early Boston films, but a community with no appeal at all.

"Until recently you only had to die once in this city, even if you came from God's Pocket." Mickey Scarpato (Hoffman) is the step-father to a kid that no one in the city really likes. The son gets killed at work one day but no one will tell the truth about what happened. This doesn't bother Mickey and he is ready to bury him right away but his wife and the boys mother demands the truth. Mickey does what he can to find out what happened but between finding out the truth, trying to make his wife happy and finding a way to pay for the funeral things begin to pile on top of him. When his wife turns to news reporter Richard Shellburn (Jenkins) for additional help things really begin to spiral out of control. This is a tough movie to review. I did think the movie was good and tense but did move very slow and was hard to stay focused on. The acting was great and this was very realistic but again though the pacing made it hard to stay engrossed in. Hoffman did a great job of playing someone who seemed lost and under an immense amount of stress and Jenkins was great as a sleazy reporter. The number one reason to watch this is for the acting. The movie itself, again, is pretty good but it is one you have to be in the mood for otherwise it will be a struggle to make it through. Overall, a movie that is worth seeing if you are in the mind set for it. It's too bad that Hoffman died because he is great in roles like this. I give it a B-.

This movie has several disturbing parts and in the end you feel like what the h e l l was the point of watching this P O S? The actors do their job well enough it the script. Its just a poor vehicle for them to use because it just does not go anywhere anyone wants to go. Save your money and see something else, wait Hollywood is only putting out garbage these days. Watch an old Bogie movie your better off then wasting your time on this garbage. It does keep you involved and waiting for some redeeming qualities that never come. It makes you know why you hate people from NY and NJ though. Living in Fla. we know how obnoxious these people can be.

This film tells the story of a man whose son is killed in an workplace accident. His wife insists on finding out the truth, and things descend into a downward spiral. "God's Pocket" is a very sad film, as many tragic events happen in a deprived neighborhood. Characters are developed very well, making the film engaging. In the short time that the son appears in the film, he appears so obnoxious that viewers have little sympathy for him. The mother is stricken with grief, and makes poor decisions. It's a real fun about real people. Given it's one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film, it deserves more attention.