''The Amati Girls'' is a 2001 American

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 ...

written and directed by Anne De Salvo. It stars

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...

, Mercedes Ruehl,

Dinah Manoff Dinah Beth Manoff (born January 25, 1956) is an American stage, film, and television actress and television director. She is best known for her roles as Elaine Lefkowitz on ''Soap'', Marty Maraschino in the film '' Grease'', Libby Tucker in both ...

Sean Young Mary Sean Young (born November 20, 1959) is an American actress. She is particularly known for working in sci-fi films, although she has performed roles in a variety of genres. Young's early roles include the independent romance '' Jane Aust ...

, Lily Knight,

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's ''Detective Story'', co-starring Kirk Dougl ...

, and Edith Fields.

Premise

The film centers around an Italian American family of four sisters ( Mercedes Ruehl,

, and Lily Knight) who reside in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. After their father's death, in trying to convince their mother (

) that her life is still worth living, each sister grapples with her own ideas on love, faith, and ultimately, the meaning of life.

Cast

as Dolly Amati * Mercedes Ruehl as Grace Amati *

as Denise Amati *

as Christine Amati * Lily Knight as Dolores Amati *

as Aunt Splendora * Edith Fields as Aunt Loretta * Cassie Cole as Carla * Marissa Leigh as Laura *

Sam McMurray Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

as Brian * Joe Greco as Uncle Frankie *

Matt Winston Matthew Winston is an American actor. He is the son of special effects artist Stan Winston. Career Winston's television appearances include the HBO dramas '' Six Feet Under'' and '' John from Cincinnati'', and as Crewman Daniels in '' Star T ...

as Johnny Barlotta * Mary Hershberger as Kevin * Anne De Salvo as Cathy *

Sal Viscuso Sal Viscuso (born October 5, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Father Timothy Flotsky in '' Soap'' (1977-1981). Acting career He is known for playing the character Father Timothy Flotsky on the ...

as Father Dedice * Anna Berger as Stella *

John Capodice John Capodice (born December 25, 1941)John Capodice
. ''TVSA.org''. is an American character actor.

< ...

as Danny *

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach Cutlip on '' The Wonder Years'', Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series ''China Beach'', the Doctor on '' S ...

as Grace's Doctor * Frederic Tucker as Stage Manager (Credited as Fred Tucker) *

Carol Ann Susi Carol Ann Susi (February 2, 1952 – November 11, 2014) was an American actress whose career spanned 40 years. Her best known roles were probably her first and last; she debuted as the recurring character of semi-competent but likable intern Mo ...

as Ticket Seller *

Jay Acovone Jay Acovone (born August 20, 1955) is an American actor. Among his most famous roles is Charles Kawalsky in the TV series Stargate SG-1. Personal life Acovone was born in New York City. His family later moved to Mahopac, New York where his par ...

as Mr. Moltianni * Don Marino as Sam * Kivi Rogers as Mike * Asher Gold as Peter * Mark Harmon as Lawrence * Kyle Sabihy as Joey * Jessica Sara as Nancy *

Jamey Sheridan James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in '' The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on '' Law & Order: Crimin ...

as Paul *

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

as Joe * Niki Harris as Flight Attendant * Maria Cina as Rockie's Girl * Larrisa Joy as Italian Class Student * Doug Spinuzza as Armand * Michelle Joyner as Moviegoer * Anthony Pontrello as Nick the Bartender

Cameo/uncredited cast

Sean Huze Sean Huze (born January 18, 1975) is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright. Early life Huze was born in Greenwood, Mississippi and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1999 to pursue a career as an a ...

as Concert Goer

Reception

''The Amati Girls'' holds a 46% approval rating 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 ...

based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 4.39/10.

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 ...

reports a score of 29 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links

* * 2001 films 2001 drama films American drama films Films set in Philadelphia American independent films 2001 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{indie-drama-film-stub