IN THE POCKET // A FILM REVIEW OF "GOD'S POCKET"

BY W DEREK JORDEN

Where does God put his hands when they are cold? Where does God put his cigarettes and lighter when he’s going out for the night? Where does God put the change he got back from the 6-pack he bought? Where does God put the number of the chick he just hit on? God puts all these things, of course, in GOD'S POCKET. In the film, John Slattery's directorial debut (best known for his Emmy-nominated role of Roger Sterling, Jr., on the hit show Mad Men) tells a story about an incident in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood. It is based on a novel of the same title by Pete Dexter (who also wrote Paris Trout starring Dennis Hopper) which was first published over 30 years ago. The fictional story was inspired by an actual notorious event that occurred when the novelist (at the time working on a local column) got severely beaten for poking around, investigating, researching a drug-deal-turned-murder near the rough three-block neighborhood in South Philly actually called Devil’s Pocket.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his last starring roles, plays a middle-aged beleaguered fella, Mickey Scarpato, who is a transplant in this neighborhood, and is getting along pretty good by ‘hood standards. But luck, of which there is very little to go around in God’s Pocket, turns south on Mickey and his whole world goes with it. Trying to bury more than just the body of his wife’s good-for-nothing son, he runs into one hiccup after another, and this drama turns darkly humorous, culminating with the,  big-boned Hoffman sprinting down the street in chase of his truck full of stolen meat, the only thing he really has left. And that’s funny.
 

The all-star cast makes these very dark and dangerous moments so believable and honest that one can't help but laugh at the unlikely absurdities that take place as Mickey and his neighbors trudge through this bleak existence. John Turturro’s “Bird” reflects the general morality that Mickey lives with as they often do the wrong things for the right reasons. And if dark wasn’t enough, let’s throw a dash of dry in there with Richard Jenkins as a columnist for the local paper. Not only is his delivery and character the epitome of dryness, but his Shellburn is dried up on the inside and out. Well, that is except for one thing: his drive and lust for Mickey’s wife, Jeanie, played by Christina Hendricks.

God’s Pocket is a well done narrative, richly detailed with accurate true-to-life characters, finely crafted with relationships, happenings and rhythms that all serve the end product. Quiet movies like these and stellar performances by their stars make you sad for the town they happened in and even sadder the main star isn’t around to tell more like it.

DEREK'S GRADE: A

Written by: Peter Dexter, Alex Metcalf Directed by John Slattery Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, John Turturro

Rated R

FINAL THOUGHTS: Phil fan or not, this is a great flick. A little bit of a downer, sure. But enough funny moments throughout that you nearly forget the sadness that surrounds.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.