TWO FAMILY HOUSE —*** — Michael Rispoli, Kelly Macdonald, Katherine Narducci, Anthony Arkin, Vincent Pastore, Kevin Conway; rated R (profanity, ethnic slurs, brief violence, vulgarity); exclusively at the Loews Cineplex Broadway Centre Cinemas.
OK, so someone besides film critics has actually seen director Barry Levinson's acclaimed "Baltimore Stories" movies.
Though Levinson had nothing to do with "Two Family House," and the setting for this comedy-drama is Staten Island rather than Levinson's home state of Maryland, it could probably be considered a spiritual cousin to "Diner," "Avalon," "Tin Men" and "Liberty Heights."
With that said, the somewhat uneven, but still pretty appealing, "Two Family House" isn't quite their equal. There are some flaws that threaten to topple this nicely low-key piece, which actually has something to say about kindness and ethnic tolerance.
It's for that reason that the film manages to overcome its weaknesses — although sometimes just barely. It also throws in some fine performances by character-actor Michael Rispoli and up-and-comer Kelly Macdonald for good measure.
The film's title refers to a ramshackle home that Buddy Visalo (Rispoli, from cable television's "The Sopranos") has just purchased. This blue-collar, Italian-American dreamer has plans to move into the upstairs apartment and turn the ground floor into a neighborhood bar. In fact, the frustrated Sinatra wannabe also wants to perform there.
However, there are a couple of obstacles to Buddy's grand scheme. First, his rather pragmatic — or to be more accurate, pessimistic — wife, Estelle (Katherine Narducci, another "Sopranos" alum), isn't exactly in love with the dilapidated-looking structure or her husband's plan (she's constantly shooting him down).
Then there's the problem of Jim and Mary O'Neary (Kevin Conway and Macdonald), an Irish-American couple currently occupying the upstairs apartment. The O'Nearys aren't budging, even when Buddy tries to evict them.
Eventually, Buddy does get the O'Nearys out — by strong-arm tactics, no less. But he's left with an even bigger dilemma when Jim runs out on Mary because he's discovered that the child she's given birth to isn't his.
And even though the young woman says she doesn't need Buddy's aid, he helps pay her rent and buys groceries to feed her and the newborn. He also finds himself attracted to Mary, since she encourages his dreams rather than constantly criticizing him.
Writer-director Raymond De Felitta, who makes his feature-film debut here, based the tale on the real-life story of one of his uncles, which probably explains why it has a certain ring of truth.
However, some of the material does come off as forced, especially the occasional, clunky voice-over narration (by an uncredited Frank Whaley, one of De Felitta's pals), which really serves no purpose other than to be a distraction. The oddly affecting chemistry between the seemingly mismatched Rispoli and Macdonald helps make the rest of the movie work, though.
"Two Family House" is rated R for occasional strong profanity, as well as use of ethnic slurs and racial epithets, brief violence (fisticuffs) and use of crude sexual slang. Running time: 104 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com