The Super (1991)

Absolutely Fantastic

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Louie Kritski (Joe Pesci) is a money-grubbing heartless NYC slumlord who learned it from his father Big Lou (Vincent Gardenia). Housing authorities lawyer Naomi Bensinger prosecutes him. He is sentenced to bring his building up to code and forced to stay in an apartment in his building for 120 days. Louie has to stay in the building and Big Lou commands him not to fix one single thing.The movie is pretty bad and it has to do with Joe Pesci. He's a good comic relief sidekick as this annoying character. Usually the lead characters can show solidarity with the audience and ridicule Pesci. The whole movie is ridiculous and unreal. The slums have no real problems because all of the tenants are saints. Louie cluelessly leaves his expensive car parked in the ghetto. For such a crass person, he is also completely naive. Pesci is aggressively annoying. Of course, he learns the expected heart warming lesson but what else is there?

Joe Pesci, Vincent Gardenia, Madolyn Smith Osbourne and Ruben Blades star in this 1991 comedy. Pesci (Goodfellas) plays Louis Kritski Jr., a slumlord like his father, Big Lou (Gardenia) who gets sentenced to live in one of his apartments he must fix in 120 days or goes to jail. He meets a council woman from court (Osbourne) who checks in on him to see if he's doing what he supposed to do and tries hitting on her. He befriends Marlon (Blades) who tries getting him to play basketball and such. Soon, Louis realizes he can't be like his selfish father and must be his own man. I think this is one of Pesci's best and he & the late, Gardenia were great together. I recommend this.

Joe Pesci is usually a great actor. He was outstanding in Goodfellas and My Cousin Vinny, and was funny in both Home Alone movies and in Gone Fishin'. However, this movie is probably one of his pitfalls. This movie definitely had its potential for being funny. It's plot was pretty original. A superintendent forced by law to live in his run down tenement house. That's original! However, I don't know why, but it just wasn't very funny. It could've been because Pesci didn't play a spoiled adult who still takes advice from his misguided, overbearing, often wrong father. The acting may not have been too good. I don't know. It just wasn't funny. There were a few cute parts (like when Pesci dances to the M.C. Hammer music), but nothing special. Sorry, Joe, but you've had funnier movies.

Early 90's rendition of Hal Ashby's 1970 film "The Landlord," which is given the comic...or attempted comic treatment by Pesci as a snobby slumlord who moves in to his slum and sees the light; the error of his rich boy ways. Badly written and unbeliveable pretty much all the way through. One of Gardenia's final films.