Wikipedia

The Pope of Greenwich Village

The Pope of Greenwich Village is a 1984 American crime black comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. Page was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her two-scene role. The film was adapted by screenwriter Vincent Patrick from his novel of the same name.

The Pope of Greenwich Village
Theatrical poster of "The Pope of Greenwich Village". The Tagline is: "Charlie and Paulie. Two dreamers fighting to get lucky."
Theatrical poster[1]
Directed byStuart Rosenberg
Written byVincent Patrick
Based onThe Pope of Greenwich Village
by Vincent Patrick
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Bailey
Edited byRobert Brown
Music byDave Grusin
Production
company
Distributed byMGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Release date
  • June 22, 1984 (1984-06-22)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million
Box office$6.8 million

The film focuses on two cousins who initially work as waiting staff in Greenwich Village. After getting fired, they orchestrate a safe-cracking plot which would allow them financially to support the pregnant girlfriend of one of them. Following the robbery, they realize that they just robbed a local mobster, who starts pressuring them to repay him.

Plot

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In an Italian neighborhood of Greenwich Village, cousins Charlie Moran, a maître d'hôtel with aspirations of someday owning his own restaurant, and Paulie Gibonni, a bungling schemer who works as a waiter, have expensive tastes but not much money. Paulie gets caught skimming checks, and he and Charlie are both fired. Now out of work and in debt, Charlie must find another way to pay his alimony, support his pregnant girlfriend Diane, and try to buy a restaurant.

Paulie comes to Charlie with a seemingly foolproof robbery idea involving a large amount of cash in the safe of a local business. Charlie reluctantly agrees to participate, and they manage to crack the safe with help from an accomplice, Barney, a clock repairman and locksmith. But things go sour, resulting in the accidental death of police officer Walter "Bunky" Ritter, who had been secretly taping "Bed Bug" Eddie Grant. Charlie soon learns that the money they stole belongs to Eddie.

The mob figures out that Paulie is involved, and not even his Uncle Pete, part of Eddie's crew, can help him. Eddie's henchmen cut off Paulie's left thumb as punishment.

Diane leaves Charlie and takes his money to support their unborn child, while Paulie is forced to work as a waiter for Eddie. He gives the mob Barney's name but initially refuses to identify Charlie as the third man involved. However, under pressure, he is forced to rat on his cousin. Barney leaves town and Charlie mails him his cut of the loot. When Charlie makes $20,000 on a horse, things begin to look up.

Charlie prepares for a showdown with Eddie, armed with a copy of the tape the police officer had made. But at the last moment, Paulie puts lye in Eddie's coffee; then he and Charlie casually walk away from Greenwich Village.

Cast

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Production

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This film was originally planned as the first on-screen pairing of actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, with De Niro playing Charlie and Pacino playing Paulie.[2] Michael Cimino was initially slated to direct the film. After Rourke and Roberts signed on as the leads, Cimino wanted to finesse the screenplay with some rewriting and restructuring. However, the rewriting would have taken Cimino beyond the mandated start date for shooting, so Cimino and MGM parted ways.[3]

The film was released under the title Village Dreams in continental Europe.[4]

Reception

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Box office

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In the United States and Canada, The Pope of Greenwich Village grossed $6.8 million at the box office,[5] against a budget of $8 million.[6]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 30 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Undisciplined direction and a clichéd story prevent The Pope of Greenwich Village from achieving greatness, but it's an entertaining showcase for its stars."[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[8]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars, saying, "It's worth seeing for the acting, and it's got some good laughs in it, and New York is colorfully observed, but don't tell me this movie is about human nature, because it's not; it's about acting."[9]

Leonard Maltin gave the film three stars, describing it as a "Richly textured, sharply observant film... Page stands out in great supporting cast."[10]

Legacy

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The film is a favorite of the character Vincent Chase on the television show Entourage.[citation needed]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "The Pope of Greenwich Village Poster". IMP Awards. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  2. ^ Heard, p. 40.
  3. ^ Heard, p. 42.
  4. ^ "The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)". BFI. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  5. ^ "The Pope of Greenwich Village". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 11, 2021. 
  6. ^ "The Unstoppables". Spy. November 1988. p. 90.
  7. ^ "The Pope of Greenwich Village". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2023-01-17.  
  8. ^ "The Pope of Greenwich Village". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (1984). "The Pope of Greenwich Village". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  10. ^ Maltin, Leonard (August 2008). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (2009 ed.). New York, NY: Penguin Group. p. 1086. ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9.

General references

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  • Heard, Christopher (2006). "Chapter Six: Iconic Measures". Mickey Rourke: High and Low. London, England: Plexus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85965-386-2.

Further reading

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