Tribeca was the perfect place to premiere Yonkers Joe, the new film starring Chazz Palminteri, famous for portraying hardened New York tough guys like Sonny in "A Bronx Tale."
The protagonist and film's namesake played by Palminteri is a small-time gambling con man planning his next scam when he receives word that he will need to assume responsibility for his son who has Downs' Syndrome, played by Tom Guiry, who gets expelled by the institution where he resides for poor behavior.
Getting help from his girlfriend, played by Christine Lahti, and his gambling pals, Joe painfully tears down a self-imposed wall that has prevented him from establishing a relationship with his son.
The film, 15 years in the making by screenwriter and director Robert Celestino is successful at building tension and drama in both the big scam that Yonkers Joe plans and the interpersonal complications of his relationships with his son and girlfriend. The acting is excellent all around, and Palminteri is at his usual best—communicating heaps with as little as a wrinkle of his brow.
At the film's premiere, Robert Celestino told The Epoch Times that Palminteri brought great energy to the movie set. "There was a scene with Chazz and Tom Guiry, and I said 'Chazz, do you mind if he hits you in the face.' And he said, 'Yeah, go ahead,' and Tom didn't want to do it. So Chazz was like, 'Hit me in the face! C'mon, hit me in the face!' He had that kind of enthusiasm!"
Christine Lahti's character as Yonkers Joe's girlfriend is very nurturing and down to earth. In contrast, she was very glamorous and elegant on the red carpet, as she offered some insights into how she approached the project.
"I was offered the part and I literally had to start shooting two days later. So I had no time to think about anything, so I was really at the director's mercy. … So I said to myself I'm scared, but I'm gonna do it, I'll find a way, God help me, I'll find a way—and sometimes when you don't have time to think about things and you just do it, it turns out even better."
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