A man looking for a new purpose in his life finds one that last place he expected in this comedy. Leo Spivak (Peter Riegert) is a man slowly sinking into the quicksand of a midlife crisis. He's become increasingly unsatisfied with his career in product testing, especially now that his young assistant Ed (Jake Hoffman) has taken to stealing his ideas and passing them on to his boss as his own work. Leo's marriage to Rachel (Isabella Rossellini) is not what it once was, especially now that she's
shifted into a constant state of near-hysteria over their daughter, Elena (Ashley Johnson), and her budding romance with an aspiring juvenile delinquent. And Leo is spending every other weekend with his aging father, Sol (Eli Wallach), who has lost his will to live but uncooperatively won't die. As Leo puzzles over his path in life, he finds some very unexpected answers when he makes the acquaintance of Evelyn Fink (Eric Bogosian), a "freelance Rabbi" with some unusual spiritual advice. King of the Corner was directed and co-written by leading man Riegert; the screenplay was adapted from stories in the collection Bad Jews by Gerald Shapiro. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This is perilously close to a vanity film, but since the star has always seemed like one of the least vain guys in the business, maybe he deserves to go on a bender.
Although Riegert, who has here assembled a first-rate cast, clearly has a good touch with actors, his handling of the awkward material reveals his directorial inexperience.
A punishing but also compassionate spotlight on a New York City corporate marketeer, and the result is really the movie screen as two way mirror, warts and all.
A punishing but also compassionate spotlight on a New York City corporate marketeer, and the result is really the movie screen as two way mirror, warts and all.
The marketing focus groups, product testing, and even a pre-planning visit to the funeral home provide a lot of laughs, but then you get little surprises.
(***): A very strong cast and an interesting screenplay kept me going with it.
December 28, 2008
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[SIZE=2][COLOR=Red] [font=Arial Black][font=Arial Black]An utter waste of time. Didn't elicit a single laugh from someone who laughs easily. Whatever redeeming merit critics saw in this fiasco raises questions about their sanity. And I am being kind....:rotten::rotten::rotten::rotten::rotten: [/font]
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