Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Safe Men (1998)

Director: John Hamburg

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Providence, RI. After yet another disappointing gig ('it is a Polish tradition to express appreciation through silence'), shambolic musicians Sam (Rockwell) and Eddie (Zahn) are feted at a bar by one Veal Chop (Giamatti), a fellow incompetent, who's recruiting safe crackers for his gangster boss Big Fat Bernie (Lerner). Pressed into service, the boys are happily surprised to be credited with the jobs they singularly failed to pull off. As it happens, Veal Chop's intended targets (Pais and Ruffalo) are busily and smoothly tidying up across town. Writer/director John Hamburg's first feature is a sympathetic study of bumbling underachievers, apparently aiming at low key comedy in the vein of Palookaville. In fact, it's so easy-going it barely stands up. Little attempt is made to hide the contrivances of the plot, and the film's sketchy narrative and an oddly unresolved finale undermine the better points, which include a relaxed, good-natured cast and several amusing conversational detours.

Author: NB 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: John Hamburg

Producer: Andrew Hauptman, Ellen Bonfman, Jeffrey Clifford, Jonathan Cohen

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Pais, Harvey Fierstein, Paul Giamatti, Christina Kirk, Michael Lerner full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 88 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.