- A second-generation South Philly street hood, who is following in the footsteps of his crooked father, falls in love with a younger version of his "do the right thing" mother and finds himself trying to serve two masters.
- "Joey's Place" is not only a ten minute film about wiseguys and falling in love but it is the "Proof of Concept" that distills the feature length screenplay also written by Steve Sacavitch entitled, "Don't Worry About It". 'Don't Worry About It' is a story about Joseph Tomasso, a South Philadelphia would-be wise guy who grew up in a house where his parents had two different ideas of what he should do with his life. His Father Frank, a charismatic blue-collar worker and part time street tough wanted him to take the easy way out, go for the quick buck and get a little something for himself. However, his strict but loving Mother, Rita, wanted him to be honest and hard-working, to allow his brains and motivation make him a true success. When Joseph was nabbed for breaking into the high school office in attempts to steal test answers, and did not tell on Nunzio, the other kid involved, Rita decided that she was going to move Joseph and herself away from all of this to New Jersey but, when Joseph instead decided he would stay in South Philly with Frank, she crossed the river alone. As a young man, Joseph works as a waiter in in a local bar while also running a bookmaking game and a host of other small-time cons and rackets but when Anne, a pretty and somewhat sophisticated woman he went to high school with comes in for baked Ziti, the two are immediately smitten with one-another and become a real item around here. However, when Nunzio, who is addicted to heroin, involves Joseph and Frank, now dying of lung cancer, in a cocaine caper to make big cash--the deal goes terribly wrong and Frank murders two people. Frank dies shortly thereafter but Joseph is arrested for another bozo deal that Nunzio also roped him into and is sentenced to three months in jail. Meanwhile, Anne tells Joseph she is pregnant; Joseph makes a vow that he is going to turn his whole world around and create a better life for the both of them. He tells her he is going to buy the bar he works at and become a real success but what he doesn't tell her is that he also agreed to run illegal book for a retiring neighborhood shylock. In jail he meets Sal, and when he discovers Sal is the son of the man that Frank murdered, and he wants revenge, Joseph gets the hell out of there, but Sal finds out he was involved and puts a contract out on him. Back with Anne and feeling good about fatherhood, Joseph is certain he is finally on the right path, but then, on a run to pick up some shylock cash he is shot to death while sitting in his car. Conceptual: This concept is a cool twist on the idea that growing up with conflicting ideas, philosophies and belief systems are going to cause you to live in a world of self-doubt, worry, self-sabotage and not be sure of who you are--at least some of the time. But this also makes for a well-rounded and human character who, although he would like to, is just not really capable of true and lasting change--but he talks a good game. The obvious themes of family and banding-together are in place but it is the subtler themes such as "Like Father (sort-of) Like Son' and "You Live With Your Choices, You Die By Them Too" that are at the core here and drive this narrative. The very idea the that choices have consequences, and you cannot take them back is an underlying storyline that affects every single character here and determines their fate or their glory. What differs this story from the typical wise guy entrée is that the main character is never really sure if he is doing the right thing, especially when he is doing the wrong thing. We're not talking about bad parenting, as both of them wanted the best for him; we are talking about skewed parenting--it is his inner battle with these mixed messages he carries that are the root of his self-inflicted troubles. "Another good guy gone wrong; you may be thinking?" No, another good guy who doesn't know what wrong is, even when he does. Although there is a lot of danger-filled, risky and dicey situations to navigate in this world, there is plenty of fun here too: Sex in the boss's car, skipping church on roller skates, racehorses chasing down the gamblers; drunken off-key tough guys singing Bon Jovi, and, a meatball eating contest for women over 60.—Vito Calamari
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