''29th Street'' is a 1991 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

George Gallo George Gallo Jr. (born January 1, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer, painter and musician. He is known for writing ''Midnight Run'' and '' 29th Street'', and is an accomplished painter in the style of the Pennsylvania ...

and starring

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including '' The Godfather Part II'' (1974), '' The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide ...

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

, and

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...

. It was adapted from a story by

Frank Pesce Frank Pesce (December 8, 1946 – February 6, 2022) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in New York City, Pesce was the son of two working-class Italian-American parents. Career Pesce started his film career as an e ...

and

James Franciscus James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: '' Mr. Novak'', '' The Naked City'', '' The Investigators'', '' Longstreet'', '' Doc Elliot'', ...

(who had both co-starred in the cult thriller ''

Killer Fish ''Killer Fish'' is an Italian-French-Brazilian horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti. Plot The mastermind behind a precision theft of priceless emeralds decides to hide the jewels at the bottom of a reservoir he has secretly stocked with s ...

'').

Plot

In 1976, Frank Pesce Jr. is a lucky man. His father, Frank Sr., is very unlucky. One day, Frank Jr. buys a lottery ticket and finds that he has a good chance of winning. But Frank Sr. has some gambling debts to the mob and they are willing to take Frank Jr.'s ticket. Frank must decide what to do with the ticket.

Cast

as Frank Pesce Sr. *

as Frank Pesce Jr. *

as Mrs. Pesce *

as Vito Pesce *

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...

as Sgt. Tartaglia *

Ron Karabatsos Ronald Christ Karabatsos (1933–2012) was an American character actor. Early life Karabatsos was born on April 22, 1933, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA, to Constantine and Antoinette Karabatsos, first-generation immigrants from Greece. The fam ...

as Philly the Nap *

Rick Aiello Rick Aiello (September 21, 1955 – July 26, 2021) was an American film and television actor. He played Officer Long in Spike Lee films ''Do the Right Thing'' and ''Jungle Fever''. Life and career Aiello was born on September 21, 1955. He wo ...

as Jimmy Vitello * Vic Manni as Louie Tucci * Paul Lazar as Needle Nose Nipton * Pete Antico as Tony * Donna Magnani as Madeline Pesce

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

''29th Street'' has an approval rating of 82% based on reviews from 11 critics.

References

External links

* 1991 films 1990s biographical films 1991 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American biographical films 1990s English-language films Films shot in North Carolina Films directed by George Gallo Films scored by William Olvis Films set in 1976 1991 directorial debut films 1990s American films {{1990s-comedy-drama-film-stub