Peter Riegert and Isabella Rosselini play a husband and wife in 'King of the Corner,' directed by Riegert.
An Elevation Filmworks, Two Tequila Prods. production in association with Ardustry Entertainment and Pursuit Film. Produced by Lemore Syvan. Executive producers, Melissa Marr, Peter Sahagen, Antony Mastromauro. Directed by Peter Riegert. Screenplay, Gerald Shapiro, Riegert, based on "Bad Jews and Other Stories" by Shapiro.
With: Peter Riegert, Isabella Rossellini, Ashley Johnson, Eli Wallach, Rita Moreno, Jake Hoffman, Harris Yulin, Frank Wood, Beverly D'Angelo, Eric Bogosian.
An underrated presence on-screen since 1978's "Animal House," Peter Riegert makes his feature directorial debut with "King of the Corner." Pic sports many of the low-key thesp's own attractive qualities -- deadpan humor, naturalism, modesty -- but errs in the latter department. Midlife-crisis tale about an aging corporate product-tester, derived from short stories in co-scenarist Gerard Shapiro's collection "Bad Jews," needs more of its source material's absurdist bite and style. Pleasant if routinely crafted result has a fine cast of second-tier name vets who should help it get quality cable berths.
Leo Spivak (Riegert) is a graying boy genius who has more than paid his dues test-marketing a long lineup of variably dubious mass-market products -- most recently "Voice Transference" home-theft devices that allow nervous housewives to mimic the intimidating dulcet tones of Gregory Peck. Yet he's unsatisfied. Bosses have mysteriously overlooked him for promotion, and VP stripes now seem soulless and silly. Mentoring young intern Ed (Jake Hoffman) is less enjoyable once it's suggested Ed is an Eve Harrington-like climber who'd gladly steal his benefactor's ideas.
At their Philadelphia-suburb home, Leo has a high-strung wife (a heavily accented Isabella Rossellini) trying to control an adolescent daughter (Ashley Johnson) whose possibly delinquent boyfriend won't meet the folks.
Amid all the stress, Leo flies to Arizona every other weekend to attend his widowed father Sol (Eli Wallach), an embittered wheelchair-bound
kvetch doing his best to make Leo feel bad. Sol slings indiscriminate mud at targets including onetime mistress Inez (Rita Moreno).
On a business trip with protegee Ed in tow, Leo runs into one-time high school lust object Betsy (Beverly D'Angelo), who, as before, scarcely notices him. Nonetheless, their brief interlude dislodges some of Leo's bedrock conformity, with disastrous -- if perhaps ultimately enlightening -- results.
Story is basically about a nervous breakdown. But pic's tilt toward minor-key humor and emotional disclosure doesn't make protag's interior meltdown nearly as vivid as it should be. Daughter Elena's rebelliousness seems so mild that spouse Rachel's control-freak neurosis seems the real problem -- an idea never addressed. Similarly, thesp Hoffman (Dustin's son) acts so passively that Dean's intended duplicitous ambition never registers.
A stronger directorial hand might have rendered the conflict between button-down repression vs. increasingly out-of-control circumstances in gently surreal terms, stoking internal tension until it explodes. Designated moment occurs when Leo seizes the mike from an insultingly glib freelance rabbi (Eric Bogosian) at his father's funeral, blurting out a heartfelt kaddish. But the sequence comes off as an awkward, prolonged stage speech.
"King of the Corner" also lacks the stylistic attention to psychological distress that might have lent it maximum impact. Instead, the pic is amiable, kinda charming, visually routine, and incisive in individual sequences. As ever, Riegert's own blase yet skillful line reads are a frequent pleasure; Wallach, Moreno and Bogosian have their moments.
Tech/design credits are pro, if uninspired.
Camera (color, Super 16-to-35mm), Mauricio Rubenstein; editor, Mario Ontal; music, Al Kooper; production designer, Benjamin Conable; set decorator, Mila Kalevitch; costume designer, Lynn Falconer; sound (Dolby Digital), Chen Harpaz; assistant directors, Vanessa Hoffman, Karen Kane; casting, Cindy Tolan. Reviewed at Mill Valley Film Festival, Oct. 9, 2004. Running time: 93 MIN.
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