drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
John Slattery
John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...
, his feature film directorial debut. Slattery co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Metcalf, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by
Pete Dexter
Pete Dexter (born July 22, 1943) is an American novelist. He won the U.S. National Book Award in 1988 for his novel '' Paris Trout''.
Early life and education
Dexter was born in Pontiac, Michigan. His father died when Dexter was four and he ...
. The film stars
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...
,
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...
,
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
, and
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...
. The film premiered at the
2014 Sundance Film Festival
The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with '' Whiplash'' directed by D ...
to mixed critical reviews, and was picked up for domestic distribution by
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...
. The film is set in a poor
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Devil's Pocket, but filmed in Yonkers and New Jersey.
Hoffman died within two weeks of the film's premiere at Sundance's 2014 U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Plot
When a blue collar worker's stepson is killed in a mysterious accident, he tries to cope, but things become difficult as the characters continue to intertwine in unexpected ways.
Cast
*
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...
as Mickey Scarpato
*
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...
as Richard Shellburn
*
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
as Jeanie Scarpato
*
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...
as Arthur "Bird" Capezio
*
Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008).
He has feature ...
as "Smilin' Jack" Moran
*
Peter Gerety
Peter Gerety (born May 17, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known as Judge Daniel Phelan in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008).
Career
Gerety is a veteran of stage, screen and television. In early 1992, he performed to critical acclaim on Broadway ...
as McKenna
*
Caleb Landry Jones
Caleb Landry Jones (born December 7, 1989) is an American actor and musician, known for his roles as Banshee in '' X-Men: First Class'', Jeremy Armitage in '' Get Out'', Red Welby in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'', Ty Carter in '' T ...
as Leon Hubbard
*
Domenick Lombardozzi
Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi (, ; born March 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Herc in ''The Wire'', and is also known for his roles in ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), '' Entourage'', and ''The Irishman'' (2019).
Ca ...
as Sal Cappi
*
Joyce Van Patten
Joyce Benignia Van Patten (born March 9, 1934) is an American film and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in films like '' The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''St. Elmo's Fire'' (1985) (as Mrs. Beamish), and as Rob Schneider's septuagenari ...
as Aunt Sophie
* Molly Price as Joanie
* Bridget Barkan
*
Lenny Venito
Lenny Venito (born May 10, 1969) is an American actor, who has made appearances in movies such as '' Gigli'', '' Men in Black 3'', and '' War of the Worlds''. He also starred as Marty Weaver in the ABC comedy '' The Neighbors'' and James "Mur ...
*
Glenn Fleshler
Glenn Fleshler (born September 5, 1968) is an American actor. On television he is noted as a recurring cast member on ''Boardwalk Empire'' who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on '' Billions'', and as Errol Childress in ...
as Coleman Peets
* Matthew Lawler
*
Danny Mastrogiorgio
Danny Mastrogiorgio (born October 26, 1964) is an American actor who has also provided voice work for video games. He is best known for providing the voice of Toni Cipriani in the 2005 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories'' and f ...
* Eddie McGee as Petey Kearns
Reception
''God's Pocket'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a rating of 37% based on 98 reviews, with an average score of 5.45/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Well-cast but frustratingly clichéd, ''God's Pocket'' fails to strike a sensible balance between comedy and drama." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film received a score of 51 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' called it a "half-good effort" that lacked the "snap, precision and stylistic smarts a mixed-tone project like this requires." Screen International called it "too shaggy and tonally inconsistent to hold together." Stephanie Merry from the ''Washington Post'' said, "What began as an intriguing snapshot begins to feel grotesque and inscrutable."
The film received some positive reviews from notable critics.
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
said, "John Slattery's direction is skilled and steady... Great actors at the top of their game working with rich material."
David Edelstein
David Edelstein (born 1959) is a freelance American film critic who has been the principal film critic for ''Slate'' and ''New York'' magazine, among others, and has appeared regularly on NPR's ''Fresh Air'' and ''CBS Sunday Morning'' programs. O ...
of ''New York Magazine''/Vulture said, "Slattery adapted the book with Alex Metcalf and gets the tone just right. The film is damnably amusing." In a Sundance first-look review ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the film 4 out of 5 stars. The ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' said the film was "crafted with great skill".
Release
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...
gave the film a limited release on May 9, 2014. Domestically, the film's widest release was in 80 theaters, generating only $170,000 in box office.
Arrow Films
Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. It sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online, and also operates its own subscription video on-d ...
acquired the UK rights and
Electric Entertainment
Electric Entertainment, Inc. is an American television and media production company, established in 2001 by veteran writer/producer Dean Devlin and led by Devlin along with partners Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan.
History
Electric Entertainmen ...