The Florentine

1999 1h 44m EN

😐

5.7

MID

★5.7TMDB · 13

DramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A slice-of-life story unfolds inside The Florentine, a bar in a Pennsylvania steel town whose brightest days are behind it, leaving behind many of life's disillusioned "losers." Its owner, Whitey, is deep in debt to the town's loan shark, Joe McCollough, and desperate for a path forward which won't cost him the bar. His sister, Molly, is days away from her long-awaited nuptials, and then her former fiancé, Teddy, shows up in town for the first time since leaving her at the altar years before. Ne'er-do-well Billy Belasco runs a con on Frankie to steal the money for the wedding caterer, while long-time regular Bobby becomes a patron-cum-inhabitant as he hides from his fast-crumbling marriage to Vikki. Every plot in this multi-layered story seems to be at its nadir just as a pair of unlikely heroes emerge out of the backdrop to turn everything around.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Michael Madsen
Whitey
Chris Penn
Bobbie
Virginia Madsen
Molly
Jeremy Davies
Truby
Luke Perry
Frankie
Tom Sizemore
Teddy Finn
Hal Holbrook
Smitty
Jim Belushi
Billy Belasco

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nick Stagliano
Writers: Andromache Chalfant, Amy McCarty Baker, Tom Benson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nick Stagliano, shot by Stephen Kazmierski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Plummy Tucker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Madsen and Chris Penn and Virginia Madsen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0132164 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 13 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nick Stagliano directs. Stephen Kazmierski behind the camera. Marco Beltrami scores. Plummy Tucker cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Nick Stagliano, shot by Stephen Kazmierski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Plummy Tucker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Michael Madsen and Chris Penn and Virginia Madsen carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0132164 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 13 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "debt", "loan shark", "financial problem", "steel town".