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So much average

Just perfect...

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I love movies about outsiders and this is one of my favorites.Forget that it's supposed to be a heist movie; the three friends were never capable of that level of coordination. But there is a remarkable chemistry between them and paricularly with the women in the story. Gallo is quite magnetic in the lead and has a wonderful rapport with both his girlfriend and an older hooker.Forsythe can be over-the-top in many films, but here he settles down and adds a touching counterpoint to Gallo. I mostly credit director Taylor for this small treasure because he has shown the same kind of class in his Napoleon film, "Emperor's New Clothes." Check out both of these films.

In New Jersey three friends are out of work and out of prospects for improvement. Their first attempt at crime fails when they break into a bakery they mistake for the back of a jewellers shop. Russell's brother in law is a cop who knows that he is up to no good, however Russell still wants the trio to do one reasonable job to help them onto their feet. The next step is the robbery of an armoured car. However, are they bad at being bad or just to good to be bad.There have been quite a few films that make comedy of inept criminals, however this film is more than that. Rather than being figures of fun, these are good people without much hope who resort to crime in rather amateur way, for example to help plan their job they hire a 1950's crime thriller called `Armoured Car Robbery' from the video store. There are no pratfalls or physical humour but instead gentle stuff that is amusing.The title comes from the line in On The Waterfront in which Marlon Brando bemoans his failure as a fighter as a `one-way ticket to Palookaville' or being a loser. The three men of the title are losers, but they are good, likeable people in difficult situations. Happily the film allows us into their lives so that they are not just `inept criminals' caricatures. The dialogue is involving but also snappy and witty. The strong cast help this enormously. Gallo is really good in the lead and the actual moment when he realises that he may be in a tough spot but he is not a bad person is really quite touching. Forsythe is good and wears his sensitive side well on his sleeve. Trese has the most difficult character – the danger would be he becomes the `drama' side of the film, but he handles it well with good support from his on-screen wife Hamilton. The support cast of family and lovers all are really believable characters, although the film really belongs to the lead three.Overall I suspect many will find this slight and not as funny as they expected. However I found it a well written (sharp yet real dialogue) with respect for it's characters – finding humour in their situations and approach rather than making them comedy characters. Add this to some well pitched performances and it makes for a film that does what it sets out to do and does it better than many of it's ilk.

"Palookaville" tells of three schmucks who are determined to be crooks but somehow just can't seem to mastermind even a simple burglary. Surprisingly well scripted, acted, and directed, given the plot, this film develops and maintains the integrity of it's inept principals while walking a tightrope between comedy and drama, avoiding falling headlong into either genre. An enjoyable little flick for channel surfers.

I'm very rarely inspired to give a film a Ten, but this must have been just the film I was in the mood to see at the time. Only a few of those consciousness-threatening laughs, but generally a warmly funny film. As a dog-hater, I'm always astonished when a dog (or two) steals the show. Palookaville's dogs were the first film roles I've ever seen for the kind of pets MY friends have in real life. My wife was so caught up in her identity with the lives of the characters, that she was at one point heard to remark "Oh, no! Don't let something bad happen in this film!" Almost made us want to go and live in New Jersey.