review by Jake Mendel
Filmmaker and actor, Roberto Ragone, presented a special event at The Producers Club on Saturday, June 28 celebrating those that have supported him, plus two very compelling films.
Ragone, darting around the stage and talking a mile a minute off the top of his head, he was the consumate host — open-heartedly thanking those that supplied him with a leg up in this industry, presenting them with very attractive plaques, and then rolling the film. The room was filled with industry and admirers of Ragone and those that he honored. So needless to say, the audience was prepared to have a good time.
They didn’t have to work too hard on that.
The films were expert work.
The Final Covenant of Vito Marcantonio, a three-character intimate piece, sharing a moment of secret history between Vito Marcantonio and New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was fascinating. Superbly written, well-acted, and briskly paced. The history lesson was an expert piece. George Papadimatos as the famed mayor of New York, LaGuardia, captured the essence of LaGuardia without it being an impression. Ragone himself commanded the celluloid stage as if he was channeling Vito throughout. Brytanie Holbrook as Marie, LaGuardia’s. wife, gave us a fascinating performance into the truth behind the supportive woman behind the throne. It would be easy for her to disappear but she certainly did not.
My one criticism, and it is a large one (in this case), is the setting. Doing the film in black & white was an excellent touch making us think we are transported back to that particular era. However, the humble kitchen and dining room of Mayor LaGuardia looked a little incomplete. The use of masking to hide anything with a modern touch and the pieces of break-a-brack that did not look the era, made it hard to stay in that particular head frame. Happily, the acting was strong enough that you eventually forgot the surroundings. They would have been much better to do it surreal and just get two old chairs and a backdrop.
The second film, Five Consecutive Zeros, was superb from start to finish. Ragone, played a John Q Public type suffering through a phone call regarding his insurance policy. Sky Spallone played a snarky Customer Service Rep — unfeelingly reading off of a script. She was certainly not giving him any service. Both were perfectly timed and absolutely hilarious. What started out as a light comedy with a familiar bite, erupted into an homage to Abbott & Costello and Who’s on First. Written by Ragone, the concept of getting turned down for insurance coverage became a vaudeville sketch was sheer brilliance. The editing was done to splt-second perfection, everyone in the audience could relate to the bureaucracy and continuously chuckled. Many were even nodding in approval. The background, housing superhero images was also a stroke of genius. It’s subliminally put us into the mindset of two things: a battle and the fantastical.
Really well done. Ragone is one of those artists- actor. /filmmaker- who is that good. If someone handed him the proper budget, we might see him accepting a gold statue in Hollywood really soon.
inDfilm 