Word: gino
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What little suspense remains in the two plots is bumped off by two separate and rather clumsy deus ex machina climaxes. And Gino and Jerry learn some nice lessons about friendship, loyalty and honor...
Things Change is actually two movies, one framed within the other. The outer plot is the story of Gino (Don Ameche), an old shoe-shine man who agrees to take the fall--and endure a three-to five-year prison sentence--in place of a mobster accused of murder. In return, he is to be paid enough money upon his release to realize his lifelong dream of owning a boat. Inept mob gofer Jerry (Mantegna) must babysit Gino until the court date. The plot turns on whether Jerry can keep Gino from changing his mind and escaping from his Chicago...
...second plot begins when Jerry, feeling sorry for his charge, decides to allow Gino a last fling, taking him to Lake Tahoe, in secret defiance of his orders. Once there, Jerry manages to convince everyone that Gino is a mafia don--so important that you should feel ashamed if you have to ask who he is--and suddenly, Gino and Jerry find themselves VIP guests with a spacious hotel suite and an unlimited credit line at a Tahoe casino. This inner plot hinges on the question of how long Gino can keep up the deception, a feat made...
...hold your breath wondering if Gino can assimilate himself into this world. Sure, at first he is so unaccustomed to life in the lap of luxury that the uses the toilet in his suite and then puts the paper strip back on. But like Peter Sellers' Chance the Gardener in Being There, Gino coasts like a charmed figure, convincing everyone through his affable personality and his homespun platitudes that he is the genuine article...
Mimi Cecchini gives a good performance as the matronly Mrs. Gianelli, who provides pasta and advice for the twins. After one of Nicky's blunders upsets Gino, she observes, "He's a beautiful boy, Eugene. He's God's boy." Tom Signorelli is funny as the priest to whom devoutly Catholic Nicky turns. He comforts Nicky on the loss of his dog with, "Mrs. Gianelli told me about Fred. I'm sorry. They go to Heaven too, you know...