This film captures a Brooklyn that is funny, gritty, and larger than life. It brings back a time that will hopefully never die, the New York that I fell in love with, that may have only been in a dream but the one that I would like to experience, if only through movies such as this. We experience a hapless law student caught up in arranged marriage, but is the story really about him? The other characters assert their destiny, unstoppable archetypes of Brooklyn bravado, these characters with more heart and soul than superheroes. Enter the time machine of 79 parts.
3 Reviews
Exceptional coming-of-age retro comedy
kinopravda688 November 2019
It is clear that Ari Taub's new feature belongs to a vast array of the coming-of-age indie comedies that revolve around some high-schoolers or twentysomething students who make disaffected comments about life's passing them by (even if the protagonist, a law student Jack, is deliberately portrayed here as naive and innocent). The milestones of this trend are Lucas's "American Graffiti" and Barry Levinson's "Diner" that established the 1960s as a proper subject for cinematic nostalgia.
"79 Parts" also captures the mood of the 70s with almost authentic minutae (in spite of the fact it is obviously shot on a minuscule budget). But it does so with such an utterly frivolic, gleeful style and offers such personable, original and very funny perspectives that from the beginning we are immediately captivated by the narrative and the performances (especially that of Eric Roberts). It's like the soul of Brooklyn represented by the Gen-Xer who grew up in NYC and now wants us to gather all parts of his past.
Well-written and very funny!
elenipnyc27 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Full disclosure: I was in a college math class with Johnny Solo, the man who plays Gino. It is ironic that the film opens up with a student at wit's end about his tuition. It brought undergrad angst right back up to me but it has been so long since I graduated that the feeling was sweet.
I did not know what to expect when I sat down on a rainy Sunday afternoon to finally watch the movie on Amazon Prime. I loved it! And, yes, the Sarah Bernhard whose name you see in the opening credits is the very one. She plays the landlady.
The plot is comically intricate and ridiculous but simple to follow and enjoy despite the number of characters. The opening and closing scenes tie in well together. It is easy to forget that the opening narration by the Irish mobster sets the scene as his story and his movie and that, in the end, he will be the winner. The rest of the characters are equally outrageous and likely to steal the show so they are all fun.
The comedy is slapstick and many scenes made me laugh out loud. There is one where someone is set to literally digging what I thought was intended to be a grave. (It wasn't.) The young protagonists are chased and ridiculed and hold their own.
The attention to costume and set detail was especially enjoyable to me as they captured the essence of 1979 New York down to the clock radios. The clothing, the cars, the home decor - all fully 70's. The eye has something to appreciate and enjoy in each scene. They got every detail right, down to the gold watches that I recall men wearing during my childhood. The only anachronism I could find had to do with Cheeburger and I challenge you to find it.
I did not know what to expect when I sat down on a rainy Sunday afternoon to finally watch the movie on Amazon Prime. I loved it! And, yes, the Sarah Bernhard whose name you see in the opening credits is the very one. She plays the landlady.
The plot is comically intricate and ridiculous but simple to follow and enjoy despite the number of characters. The opening and closing scenes tie in well together. It is easy to forget that the opening narration by the Irish mobster sets the scene as his story and his movie and that, in the end, he will be the winner. The rest of the characters are equally outrageous and likely to steal the show so they are all fun.
The comedy is slapstick and many scenes made me laugh out loud. There is one where someone is set to literally digging what I thought was intended to be a grave. (It wasn't.) The young protagonists are chased and ridiculed and hold their own.
The attention to costume and set detail was especially enjoyable to me as they captured the essence of 1979 New York down to the clock radios. The clothing, the cars, the home decor - all fully 70's. The eye has something to appreciate and enjoy in each scene. They got every detail right, down to the gold watches that I recall men wearing during my childhood. The only anachronism I could find had to do with Cheeburger and I challenge you to find it.
See also
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