Safe Men (1998)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 4
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 2,535
My Rating
Movie Info
A case of mistaken identity forces a pair of lounge singers to pose as safecrackers in this farce. Sam (Sam Rockwell) and Eddie (Steve Zahn) are hapless musicians; Frank (Mark Ruffalo) and Mitchell (Josh Pais) are expert safecrackers. But when local Jewish gangster Big Fat Bernie Gayle (Michael Lerner) dispatches his henchman, Veal Chop (Paul Giamatti), to trick the safecrackers into service, the hapless Veal Chop can't tell the difference. In the end, Sam and Eddie are forced to go along with
Aug 7, 1998 Wide
Aug 15, 2006
Universal Pictures
Cast
-
Sam Rockwell
Sam -
Steve Zahn
Eddie -
Paul Giamatti
Veal Chop -
Michael Schmidt
Bernie Jr. -
Michael Lerner
Big Fat Bernie Gayle -
Mark Ruffalo
Frank -
Christina Kirk
Hannah -
Harvey Fierstein
Leo -
-
-
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Safe Men Trailer & Photos
All Critics (30) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (11) | DVD (4)
...it's difficult not to ultimately be won over by the uniformly superb performances and Hamburg's emphasis on thoroughly strange bits of comedy.
Special features of this DVD edition of the 1998 Sundance indie include: deleted scenes, commentary from first-time director John Hamburg and actors Sam Rockwell and Steve Zhan, and Hamburg's student film, "Tick."
Technically raw and narratively bumpy, this high-concept comedy has all the merits and weaknesses of an amateurish indie. Illustrious cast, headed by Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Michael Lerner, and Harvey Fierstein, does its best but it ain't enough.
Novel and vivaciously performed.
Audience Reviews for Safe Men
But be warned: those who find Napoleon Dynamite to be undesirable should stay away from Safe Men because most of the humor is identical between the two. Nevertheless, I found it very funny. Hell, I even laughed out loud a couple of times.
Favorite quote:
Bernie: "Chop, do you think you can learn these two where the next safe is?"
Chop: "Done and donner."
Bernie: "Why can't you just say fucking 'Yes' when I ask you a question?"
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Sam: Oh, but he's in the Jewish mafia, I'm sure that's more of like a club than a criminal organization
An overall charming film that is very flawed do to its style, but the great cast and moments of inspired hilarity make it all worth it.
Sam Rockwell and Steve Zahn play unsuccessful singers mistaken for two expert safe crackers (actually played by Mark Ruffalo and Josh Pais). They are forcefully brought in by a mobster, Veal Chop played by Paul Giamatti, and forced to pull a number of safe cracking jobs for Jewish mob boss, Big Fat Bernie Gayle played by Michael Lerner (who seems like he's going to have a heart attack in every scene). During this time, Rockwell's character falls in love with the daughter of one of the men who is supposed to be being robbed by them.
There is a lot of plot, but its not really confusing because the movie exists in a world that is way to quirky for its own good. Sure its a comedy, but the way the people exist in this world is way to precious. The conversations walk a very fine line between being funny and going overboard in stylization.
All of this being said, the cast is quite good. Rockwell, always solid, plays the awkward lead very well. Zahn is a bit dialed down from other, funnier characters he has played. Giamatti was probably my favorite character in this movie, as he actually had some layers. Ruffalo plays a lovable loser type, despite being a crook with emotional problems. Then you have Harvey Fierstein in a movie where he doesn't play an openly gay man.
Its a very lighthearted crime comedy that certainly means well and scores few originality points, but pushes its charm way to hard to be better.
Sam: Sweet 'stache.
Frank: Thanks, bro.