Palookaville (film)

Palookaville
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlan Taylor
Written byDavid Epstein
Produced byUberto Pasolini
Starring
CinematographyJohn Thomas
Edited byDavid Leonard
Music byRachel Portman
Production
companies
Distributed byThe Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release dates
  • September 7, 1995 (1995-09-07) (Venice Film Festival)
  • October 25, 1996 (1996-10-25) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$365,284[1]

Palookaville is a 1995 American crime comedy film directed by Alan Taylor (in his feature directorial debut) and written by David Epstein. The film is about a trio of burglars and their dysfunctional family of origin. It stars William Forsythe, Vincent Gallo, Adam Trese, and Frances McDormand. The writing is a free interpretation of three short stories by Italo Calvino.[2]

Palookaville premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 1995, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 25, 1996, by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. It received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Sid, Russ and Jerry are three wannabe criminals looking for easy money to break out of their nowhere lives. Despite a bungled jewelry store heist that exposes their incompetence, they are convinced they can pull off an armored-truck robbery. While plotting their caper, their dysfunctional families spin out of control all around them.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

At the time of its release, Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times.[3]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes later reported an approval rating of 64%, with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 11 reviews.[4]

Accolades

References

  1. ^ "Palookaville". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  2. ^ Bolongaro, Eugenio (2006-05-01). "Playful robberies in Palookaville (1995): Alan Taylor, Italo Calvino and a new paradigm for adaptation". New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film. 4 (1): 3–20. doi:10.1386/ncin.4.1.3_1. ISSN 1474-2756.
  3. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 29, 1996). "Palookaville movie review & film summary (1996)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "Palookaville (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. 1996-10-25. Archived from the original on 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2023-11-02.


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