There are tons of films that were either or takes place or filmed in NYC, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Miami is another hot spot. Those are the big boys. Though Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan truly only has Jason in Times Square for like 30 seconds and was filmed in Canada, it is still intended to be NYC.
I am originally from New Jersey and I love when I see a movie that takes place in my old home state. I think we can all relate to that. You know people from Astoria, Oregon love pointing out locations in Goonies. I do it with The Sopranos. So why not have some hometown film pride.
First up in this series, which I plan on doing occasionally, is an underground favorite starring Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo from 1986 called Wise Guys.
In the film, Harry Valentini (DeVito) and Moe Dickstein (Piscopo) are two low level schlubs that work for the Mob as errand boys. Each week they run errands, start the bosses car, pick up laundry etc. They have also been placing bets for their boss on horses that never win and Harry talks Moe into betting on a different horse so they can finally make something of themselves.
It turns out the boss really had the fix on this specific race and now they owe him a shit load of money. Rather than killing Harry and Moe, the boss and his gang place a wager and talk Harry and Moe into killing each other.
The two guys end up figuring out the scheme and decide to steal Frankie “The Fixer” Acavano’s (Captain Lou Albano) car as well as his credit card and go on a shopping spree in Atlantic City. Harry’s cousin Bobby DiLea (played by Harvey Keitel), who is also connected, lends the guys a hand in helping them get out of this huge mess.
Captain Lou is by far the funniest guy in this movie. If you don’t recall who that was, he was one of the coolest wrestlers from back in the 80s. He was also known as Mario in The Super Mario Show and played Cindi Lauper’s dad in the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun video. The scene where he sticks his whole hand in Piscopo’s birthday cake in the beginning is laugh out loud hilarious. There is a lot more with Captain Lou that is just off the wall with his constant yelling of every time and budging eyeballs. Every time he is on the screen in this movie he delivers like a comedic champion. Even if he is just yelling. Captain Lou steals the show.
I make a point to watch this every year and I still own it on VHS! It sits on my desk. There is a solid cast as well with Mob movie and Italian character regulars like Frank Vincent, Dan Hedaya, Julie Bovasso, Antonia Rey and Tony Munafo.
Many of the original locations are now torn down or completely remodeled. The movie was filmed in North and South Jersey. There are scenes in St. Lucy’s Church in Jersey City, the old Resorts International Casino in Atlantic City and some in Newark that show a city that no longer looks the same.
Don’t expect a Scorsese gangster film, Wise Guys is a low budget gangster comedy that has the right laughs with Danny Devito knocking them dead before he was a household name.
Here is the official trailer. Track it down, you will not be dissapointed!
