Dear Mr. Wonderful

New Jersey lounge singer Joe Pesci (as Ruby Dennis) dreams of making it big in Las Vegas. Arguably acting as a surrogate "man of the house" (or, apartment), Mr. Pesci lives with his sister Karen Ludwig (as Paula) and her son Evan Handler (as Raymond). Pesci owns a business that is both a bowling alley and nightclub showcase for his Vegas-style singing. He wears a toupee and carries a song, a drink and a smoke. However, Pesci is only a shadow of entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Martin (who appears in a cameo). While Pesci struggles to maintain his business, nephew Handler is tempted by underworld activities...

Director Peter Lilienthal had a limited budget to work with, clearly, and it gives this story a gritty look. Unfortunately, the character Pesci plays is not very appealing. It would help if we felt sorry for him and his obviously hopeless dream. The character profile is sympathetic, but this is not the impression he introduces; later, the situation helps make up some of the difference. An unbelievable romance between Pesci and attractive young Ivy Ray Browning (as Sharon) falls short. Pesci is the big star, but Handler and Ms. Ludwig are the more interesting characters. She leaves the set too often, but both Ludwig and Handler help maintain interest.

***** Dear Mr. Wonderful (8/24/82) Peter Lilienthal ~ Joe Pesci, Evan Handler, Karen Ludwig, Ivy Ray Browning

Very odd Pesci vehicle where he sings and offers a low key performance. Many of the other actors have never been in another movie.

It's a strange slow moving character driven movie. Also notable for it's street scenes of a changing Manhattan and Bronx landscape of the early 80s. Compounding it's oddity, the movie is made by some German company and actually won an award in Germany. Supposedly the opening scenes were in German but those are cut out of the version I saw. Very cheaply made.

"Ruby's Dream" is one of the most "New York movies" to come out of the 80's; it is literally soaked in that New York city style, to the point where the viewer can almost smell the streets and the smoke-filled bars and pool halls of a grimy, vintage late 70's/early 80's NYC. Every character and every location used is filled with so much nostalgia and atmosphere that it is hard to imagine any native of the city, not enjoying this oddball film. Once again, Joe Pesci turns in an utterly real and believable performance as Ruby Dennis, the tacky lounge singer who dreams of being a headline performer in Vegas, like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He's doing fairly well, singing in the bowling alley that he owns, surrounded by his family, including his sister and his delinquent nephew, who also works at the bowling alley, when he isn't snatching gold chains from tourists in Times Square. This time Pesci is portraying a Jewish guy, rather than the usual Italian that he is known for, and he is utterly perfect in the role. This movie is so well-made, with amazing cinematography and high caliber acting, that it appears to have a high budget. This is a very polished, great looking production that has apparently been forgotten, and relegated to low quality dvd editions that present the film in a cropped, 4x3 picture format. This must be a real stunner in it's original widescreen format, and captures the grit of the street like "Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Cowboy." Those expecting action or a crime film might come away disappointed, as this is mainly a character study, of one man and his immediate family, all of which are interesting in their own way. Especially fascinating was Ruby's nephew, Ray, the teen criminal that looks up to his uncle, but wants to be successful in his own right, by becoming a street thug, fencing stolen goods to the denizens of the local boxing gym. And this one showcases so many scenes of a sleazy, vanished New York; the filthy boxing clubs, the off track betting places, the sex clubs and porn theaters of 42nd street, the smoke-filled bars and streets that seem to ooze an aura of criminality..truly beautiful to behold. Judging from the ridiculously low rating here, I'm guessing that this quality will only be appreciated by a certain audience. But for those who remember the golden age of New York, or just appreciate NYC movies, "Ruby's Dream" is one of the best..I think the reason the city is captured in such an idyllic, almost over the top way, is because the director is German. Therefore we get a movie that is so 'New York' that it almost becomes parody. On a side note, the version I saw clocked in at 115 minutes, so there might be different versions of this movie out there, as this site gives a shorter running time of 100 minutes.

1st watched 4/26/2010 -- 6 out of 10(Dir-Peter Lilenthal): Cheaply filmed but well acted and interesting story about a wannabe Las Vegas lounge-type singer played by Joe Pesci as he lives out his New York city existence. He sings at a bowling alley that he owns which has 22 lanes and a bar at the end where he does his nightly act. The story is about his family -- including his sister and her son(whom he occasionally lives with), their Jewish life(including a barmitsfa), mob forces that they deal with on a daily basis and his infatuation with a girl singer in the club. This is kind of a slice of life movie that seems to be filmed with a leading towards improvisation in the performances and has a documentary style look and feel. You find out little bits and pieces about the characters as the story progresses but you have to be patient and pay attention partly because of the bad sound in this low-budget film or you'll miss things. The acting is excellent and the story keeps you interested and there are so many characters in the film that the whole thing could have been made into a TV series or at least a mini-series to cover everything. The ending is kind of abrupt and only hints at what may happen to Ruby(the main character) but I have to recommend this movie because you learn to care about the characters as it progresses. A different character for Pesci, but he plays it very well and it shows his versatility as an actor. Don't miss this one if you'd like to see all his work -- including this nice jump away from the Hollywood mainstream.

Wow i couldn't believe how awful this movie was.. The singing was lousy, Joe Pesci looked so cheesy in this role, and i like Joe Pesci, Don't think he was ready to be a lead actor in this, but then again he didn't have much to work with either, i thought i noticed Robert DeNiro as the piano player, also Michael Pare in the Gym. i couldn't wait for this film to end, it was so drawn out,, no action whatsoever, he hardly even makes an attempt to get out of his mess. he just says, oh it will get better, well folksy the movie never did get better to say the least, and that's an understatement. At least the other movie on this disc was great, Family Enforcer, I think that Joe Pesci is more comfortable in a supporting role , than say a lead role, although i 'm almost positive he would do a better job than this movie here , all in all this movie really was horrible, won't watch again for a long long time.