Mickey tries his best to investigate with the help of his friend Bird (John Turturro) but things go from bad to worse when Mickey gambles the funeral money and is left with a body he canâ?t bury and a debt he canâ?t pay as a local columnist (Richard Jenkins) begins to expose the events.Ī sombre, lowbrow mood piece thatâ?s very much character driven and has an authentic feel for itâ?s titular working class, Philadelphia neighbourhood, Godâ?s Pocket. Itâ?s inhabitants are seemingly stuck in their turgid, everyday lives where in order to make ends meet, they are forced into one scam or another. There are few redeeming characters in this tiny corner of the world but debutant director John Slattery (Roger Sterling from TVâ?s Mad Men) gives us an inside, almost fly-on-the-wall, look at how these blue collar crooks operate. The subject matter is certainly grim and cinematographer Lance Acord paints a suitably bleak picture. However, despite the stark nature, before you know it the film shifts from being a character drama to a very black comedy and itâ?s here that Slatteryâ?s inexperience in calling the shots comes to the fore. Considering that the film starts so seriously, a sudden burst of humour comes as a real surprise and it takes a while to adjust. Once you accept that this, though, the black comedic moments become better timed. Itâ?s certainly tonally uneven and you get the sense that Slattery is a little out of his depth in balancing it all but he does manage to deliver many excellent scenes, has a fantastic eye for detail and draws out superb performances from his entire cast. This bodes well for the the directorial future of John Slattery but itâ?s just a damn shame that we wonâ?t see much more from Hoffman.
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