In 1999 we’d finally get to see a proper team up of both Virginia Madsen and Michael Madsen in one film. Sort of. Briefly, in one scene at least.
And, discounting Blue Tiger and Ballad of the Nightingale because Michael’s scene in Blue Tiger is uncredited and Ballad of the Nightingale because, well, who knows.
The film would be called The Florentine and it would pack some serious punch when it comes to the people involved. Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Burt Young, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jim Belushi and Luke Perry would, amongst others, all throw their hats into this ring.
Set in and around an American small town Bar, The Florentine, we’d follow the lives of it’s patrons in a small snippet of their lives.
The Florentine is run by Whitey (Micahel Madsen), its the hub of a group of friends who are all involved in various plots and schemes of their own, or sometimes together.
Virginia plays a character called Molly who is Whiteys sister (aww). Her story is that she’s getting married imminently but her ex, Teddy (Tom Sizemore) comes back into town. Teddy left her at the altar years ago and left town. He’s not been seen since. Not only is Teddy Molly’s ex, but he was good friends with a lot of the folks in the bar.
Now. I like this kind of film. And, I like this film. But it’s one that I couldn’t really recommend anyone else watch unless I knew they were going to take the film for what it was. It’d be wrong to say that “nothing happens”, but it’s a relatively calm affair and not really going to rivet anyone to the spot as they watch.
There is some proper acting going on here though on the quiet. It’s not often you get to see these guys chew some dialogue the way they do here, and even less so all at the same time even though many of them have appeared together on screen a few times.
Virginia isn’t on screen a lot, but she is, she resonates. There is one scene between Michael and her that is ACE to see on screen, well for us fans at least, but there isn’t a right lot for her to do otherwise. Shame she’s underused, but it’s just that kind of film.
If you don’t mind character driven stories then this one is going to be for you. The performances are worth the price of admission alone on this one.
If you prefer your stories with some action and proper resolution then you’re probably going to want to give this one a miss. Which would be a shame.
Availability:
You can find this on DVD, but expect to pay for it. It’s quite rare, but can be found. At the time or writing Amazon Prime have it as part of their offerings to watch free.
Trailer: