Illustration by Liz Laribee, lizlaribee.com
The world is made up of firsts, and the film reviewed here is no exception.
John Slattery, who has directed a handful of episodes of “Mad Men,” has taken his first crack at a feature film with “God’s Pocket,” an adaptation of another first, a novel by Pete Dexter. “God’s Pocket” depicts a section of South Philadelphia where uneducated, brawl-happy people are the norm, and everybody knows everybody’s business.
Renowned columnist Richard Shelburn (Richard Jenkins) narrates, “Everyone here has stolen something from somebody else, or, when they were kids, they set someone’s house on fire… And no matter what anybody does, they’re still here. And whatever they are is what they are. The only thing they can’t forgive is not being from God’s Pocket.”
Except for Mickey Scarpato (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Mickey only came to the Pocket through his wife, Jeannie (Christina Hendricks), but has fitted himself quite well into society, mostly because he’s just a plain decent guy. He scrapes up a living, albeit a slightly illegal living, selling meat out of the back of a truck, and Jeannie… well, Jeannie looks out of place, being the prettiest woman around, and doesn’t do much with her time other than serve as a blue-collar trophy wife. Her son, Leon (Caleb Landry Jones), works at a local construction site, and his tendency to pick fights and sling racial slurs leans toward the sociopathic. When Leon threatens a coworker, the man retaliates and lays a fatal blow to the back of his head. Choosing to side with anyone over Leon, the other construction workers cover for the man, claiming that “something fell” and struck Leon.
Jeannie becomes ill with grief at the news of her son’s death, leaving Mickey to make the funeral arrangements. But, when she hears the claims that his death was an accident, she won’t believe it—she just knows that something’s not right. She asks Mickey to investigate. Richard Shelburn has also been sent to get the real scoop on Leon, having become something of a local legend in God’s Pocket. But Shelburn is not the put-together writer he used to be; he passes the time nursing his alcoholism and traipsing after women, and, upon arrival in the Pocket, he immediately becomes infatuated with Mrs. Scarpato.
And so the plot unfolds. Mickey gets his friend, Arthur (John Turturro), to try to scare some details out of the boys at Leon’s work, and Shelburn tries to woo Jeannie into sleeping with him. Meanwhile, Mickey has financial troubles that cause some awkward things to happen at the morgue.
The tone of the film differs greatly from the book, which is a dark comedy. Not that the film doesn’t have its darkly comedic and absurdist moments, but it would be better described as a harsh glimpse into a whirlpool of hopelessness. Hopefully, this switch in tone was a conscious decision, and I almost wish that the film had carried the theme all the way to the end, but, instead, it ended with a moment of minute happiness, trying to wrap things up for our man, Mickey. The clinch of the story is how the inhabitants of God’s Pocket are continually pulled into the whirlpool, and the ending detracts from that somewhat.
The problem with a story whose characters internalize their bleak outlook is that the cast doesn’t quite have the chance to show off its theatrical prowess. It is almost a shame that the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christina Hendricks didn’t have more emotional range to work with. That being said, each character is very much realized and has the potential to tug at your heartstrings.
All in all, I’ve got to give Slattery credit for his first feature. “God’s Pocket” is definitely worth watching, and I’ll be interested to see what lies in store next for him.
“God’s Pocket” will be playing at the Midtown Cinema in May. Come experience it for yourself.
Sammi Leigh Melville is a staff member and film reviewer at the Midtown Cinema.
May Events at Midtown Cinema
1st Sunday Brunch & a Movie
5/4 10:30 a.m. brunch and 11:00 screening of Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs”
1st Sunday Foreign Series
5/4 7 p.m. Jean Cocteau’s 1946 French romantic fantasy “La Belle et la Bête” (“Beauty and the Beast”)
2nd Saturday
5/10 Saturday Morning Cartoons 9:30-11:30 a.m.
2nd Sunday AFI Top 100 Series
5/11 7 p.m. “Psycho”—watch the Hitchcock classic for Mother’s Day. Bring your mom or dress up as Norman to get a prize!
3rd in the Burg $3 Movie
05/16 9:30ish “Blazing Saddles” celebrates its 40th anniversary! BYOB
5/17-5/21 Jewish Film Festival
3rd Sunday Down in Front! Comedy riffing w/Jennie Adams
5/18 7 p.m. “The Horror of Party Beach” (1964) BYOB
4th Sunday Documentary Series
5/25 7 p.m. “Paper Clips” (2004)
5/29 7 p.m. Oliver Stone’s “JFK”—watch the 1991 docudrama to celebrate John F. Kennedy’s birthday
