Strictly Sinatra (2001)
In Glasgow, Toni Cocozza, age 28, aspires to be a lounge singer; his repertoire is strictly Sinatra, backed by Bill, an aging piano player and his only friend. Toni dreams big and enters a local television talent show. About that time, a local Mob boss decides Toni is great entertainment and invites him to be his guest at a casino. Toni chats up Irene, a cigarette girl, he gets an odd job or two from Chisolm, the mobster's number two, the audition goes bust, and Toni's future is uncertain. One thing leads to another with the Mob. Is Toni at a crossroads, or is there in reality no turning or going back?
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That was an excellent one.
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Boring
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Capaldi has said that this film didn't come out so well because he wanted it to be one thing and the producers wanted it to be another. Of course I can't know what went on there but I'm going to guess.I'm guessing this was meant originally to be a direct follow-up to the BAFTA-winning 1993 "Soft Top, Hard Shoulder," which was written by and starred Capaldi but rather limply directed by someone else (should have been Capaldi IMO.) STHS is about an aspiring artist from Glasgow who's struggling to make it in London but dreads the thought of going home, and "Strictly Sinatra" shows why he felt that way. The protagonist of SS is a below professional grade Frank Sinatra impersonator whose fantasies of actually being Sinatra lead him to seek help from some neighborhood wise guys who are themselves living in a dream world of retro Italian-American gangster glamor. (Capaldi's Glasgow, it seems, wasn't that different from New Jersey.) The protagonist, Tony Cocozza (note how it and Gavin Bellini, the protagonist's name from STHS, scan the same as Peter Capaldi) has remarkably long wild curly hair for a Sinatra impersonator (shades of Capaldi again), and his love interest Irene is remarkably like Yvonne, Elaine Collins' character from STHS, so we can guess who those roles were originally written for.The lighter, quirkier STHS style sequences work much better than the serious American-style gangster action ones so I'm guessing the first approach was Capaldi's original intention and the second was the one he compromised with. The film does look great. The sequence in which Tony's first triumphant ride in a Mafia staff car turns into a weirdly frightening siege is very stylish indeed.
You could hardly accuse scribe/helmer Peter Capaldi of being subtle. The real Francis Albert Sinatra had widely documented alleged 'connections' with organised crime, specifically the Mafia and Capaldi's Tony Cocozza, a club singer whose repertoire is, as he tells his pianist, strictly Sinatra, makes initial contact with heavy hitting Glasgow gangsters within two reels. If you can get past that without yawning this isn't a bad time-passer and if Brian Cox is well OTT Alun Armstrong turns in a fine low-key cast-against type performance as Cocozza's pianist and closest thing to friend whilst Kelly MacDonald is 1) great to look at and 2) unbelievably and unrealistically nice-cum-naïve. The tune-stack is well up to snuff though Ian Hart is to Sinatra what Dick Van Dyke is to cockney.
I tuned in to see Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting, The Loss of Sexual innocence), and was rewarded with what was the best performance I have seen of her so far. She was just alive and incredible as the love interest.I got a bonus because the lead, Ian Hart (Breakfast on Pluto, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) was excellent in the role of a hack lounge singer that got involved with the mob to get a break. He was lucky he didn't get a break - on his legs or arms. Watching him get sucked in for a chance was a great experience.Along the way, we also got some fine performances from Brian Cox (The Ring, The Bourne Supremacy) and Alun Armstrong (Eragon, The Mummy returns.And the music! You can just imagine from the title. Stupendous.
While there isn't anything fantastic about this film, there isn't anything bad. It's all about entertainment, and this film will hold your attention if you have moderate film intelligence, and you are not falling down tired or otherwise dulled. It has a realistic story about believable characters.There is no Hollywood here. This is another great testament to the growing (in quality and volume) non-England British Isles film industry. The acting is good and the story is quaint. The direction is tight for the most part, except when it tries to be "action-oriented." Still good. Enjoy it.6.3/10