The last but one film from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman likely won’t stand as a lasting legacy, even if its credentials appear encouraging. Based on Pete ‘Paperboy’ Dexter’s novel, Christina Hendricks is the local beauty whose jackass son gets himself brained at work, and whose petty-criminal husband (Hoffman) loses the funeral money to a horse and is lumbered with the kid’s body as he tries to make amends. What’s more, Mad Men’s John Slattery is the director. But the result is fatally uncertain of its tone: Weekend At Bernie’s for the Sundance set or an Irish-American Mean Streets. Even Hoffman can’t figure out if he’s playing canny or desperate.
Gods Pocket Review
Philip Seymour Hoffman is Mickey Scarpato, the street hustler husband of a local Philly siren (Hendricks). When her son dies in mysterious circumstances at work, he does his best to hush it up, but the presence of a hard-drinking journalist (Richard Jenkins) stretches even his resources.
Release Date:
08 Aug 2014
Running Time:
89 minutes
Certificate:
15
Original Title:
Gods Pocket
An uneven debut from John Slattery that nonetheless shows flashes of flair and a jet-black sense of humour.
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