Bearish coulda-been-a-contender Bailey (James Gandolfini) lives in the same Jersey Shore house he grew up in, working the dinky boardwalk amusement rides owned by a childhood pal who’s married to the unrequited love of the schlub’s life (Famke Janssen). But the sudden death of Bailey’s sister and arrival of a meddling French brother-in-law (Edoardo Costa) summon ghosts the whole stunted community has tried to hide. Veteran acting coach Harold Guskin’s belated first feature captures townie defeatism in all its numbing coziness, but any particularities of setting and character are dulled by a script that stages human interactions with the spontaneity of a flow chart. Brando-wheezing Gandolfini never slums it, but there’s still no shaking the sense that a pro has shown up for amateur hour.
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