Dead Broke

If you can enjoy a prolonged visit with low-life employees of a seedy collection agency, then you are likely to enjoy this film. The performances are all good, and some are truly memorable. Paul Sorvino says "youze" a lot and is completely believable as the gangsterish owner of the "Polite Persistence" collection agency. John Glover's not-quite-handsome and unshaven police detective is just grungy enough to fit right in with the "losers" he must interrogate. Kevin Dewey's performance as "Steve" reminds one of Jim Carrey at his most manic. And, above all, Patricia Scanlon as the "Doberman of Debt," Frankie, pretty much steals the movie with her vicious performance as every debtor's worst nightmare. Her telephone diatribes against her poor "customers" are truly hilarious. She even gets a topless outdoor sex scene, which is more likely to inspire fear rather than to titillate. This is awesome acting.

The main weakness of the movie is the plot. At one point Sam the detective remarks something like "We have eight motives here." Actually, we don't have any motives--because the police do not have a corpse and we do not know who the victim is. If we do not have a victim, we cannot formulate a plausible motive, nor can we surmise why the police would waste so much time delving into the private lives of the agency employees.

But in spite of the obvious plot weaknesses, this film has a real sense of style, and the characters are really fun to watch. I will be spinning this DVD repeatedly for the genuine pleasure of watching Patricia Scanlon's rabid performance.

I was surprised this didn't get better reviews. I thought the movie was clever and original. Throughout, the story line kept me guessing and some scenes are totally, unexpectedly hilarious. Paul Sorvino is particularly interesting to watch and all of the characters are, well characters. Dialogue/script is tight and well conceived. Most of the movie is set at a collection agency office (polite persistence) with two detectives interrogating employees into the night - makes you feel like your there, sipping the coffee with them. If you pay close attention, you can figure out who is guilty but it's NOT obvious...enjoy.

What a great who done it, keeps you guessing until the very end, Reminds me of how Nick Charles orchestrated his investigations in the Thin man movies, just bumped up a few decades. Colorful, believable characters, with quirks and drama that reel you in when you meet them, making you care for each one for different reasons, showing you how complex each person is, and how those complexities inter relate with the people around them; like a Minestrone, or Wedding soup and how the ingredients combined blend and enhance the flavors of each ingredient to bring a flavor pitch, like an orchestra coming into tune blowing the audience away!

This flick looked rather predictable and unspectacular at first, but the more I watched the more I laughed. Aside from the fact the I kept seeing one familiar face after another (John Glover, Jill Hennessey, Tony Roberts, etc.)I was beguiled by the way the humor was slipped in, so subtle that one almost wouldn't notice. As I missed the beginning, I really would make the effort to see it in its entirety, and consider it well worth it. Glover is great as the detective, and the amount of times they had to bleep out dialog for the channel I was watching it on only made it funnier. My favorite scene by far concerns the two versions of a story told about the collection agency efforts of one of the female characters- the besieged debtor is verbally torn to pieces by said bill collector, in his version; her version has her engaging him on the phone in just the sweetest, softest way imaginable. There are subplots and subterfuges all over the place, with a conclusion which again contains little glints of humor and a satisfactory result. Worth watching if you come across it at the video store or on the tube, especially if you like goofs on film noir.

"Dead Broke" is essentially a one room play with eight suspects being interrogated in a murder case. You cannot set your expectations beyond this very limited environment. The movie is very much like "Twelve Angry Men", except instead of a sequestered jury, here we have sequestered suspects. The acting is strong and as each of the eight reveal their suspicions, anyone could be implicated in the crime. Things are complicated however, because the victim's body, which fell into a river, has yet to be recovered. The film is a bit long, and the claustrophobic atmosphere monotonous. Nevertheless, persevering to the conclusion is mandatory. - MERK