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click here to read about the Audience Award at the Austin Heart of Film Festival |
click here to read about our premiere at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival |
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click here to read about the Audience Award at the Austin Heart of Film Festival |
click here to read about our premiere at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival |
'Went to Coney Island' Is a Touching Tale of Friends
by Kevin Thomas
"Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God . . . Be Back
by Five" re-teams director/co-writer Richard Schenkman and actor/co-writer
Jon Cryer, who first joined forces on the romantic comedy "The Pompatus of
Love." This time they're in a more serious mood, which is not to say this
deeply felt, engaging little film is without humor, although it confronts a
great deal of pain and loss.
Cryer's Daniel and Rick Stear's Stan are lifelong friends in a working-class New
York neighborhood. Steadfast Daniel has a modest job as a jeweler, whereas Stan
is experiencing the unraveling of his life from gambling and drink. Yet they
remain friends, although Dan is not yet aware of how dire Stan's predicament has
become.
They take off to explore Coney Island in search of their long-missing childhood
friend Richie, who is rumored to have been spotted at the once-venerable, now
increasingly derelict, seaside amusement area.
Stan and Dan locate Richie (Rafael Baez) living under the boardwalk. But the
story is really just beginning, and as the film moves back and forth between
past and present, Schenkman and Cryer show how the high spirits of childhood, so
seemingly full of promise, can so swiftly give way to mediocre adult lives.
The film has a strong, limiting sentimental streak and some loose ends, but
clearly Schenkman and Cryer have come up with a film that is finally quite
affecting and glows with the performances of Stear and Baez as well as Cryer. (Ione
Skye is seen all too briefly as Stan's longtime girlfriend.)
Evocative and poignant, Coney Island is a powerful key setting, and the
filmmakers make the most of it without letting it overwhelm the story--Adam
Beckman is the film's skilled cinematographer. You find "Went to Coney Island" sticking with you long after it's over.
by Leonard Maltin
"Went to Coney Island..." is a breath of fresh air
amid all the self indulgent independent films we're seeing these days. Its
director and co writer, Richard Schenkman, has a sharp ear for dialogue and a
good eye for the melancholy landscape of Coney Island, which
resounds strongly with New Yorkers, like me, who remember it in its heyday.
Jon Cryer (who co wrote and co produced the picture) and Ione Skye are the only
recognizable names in the cast, but all of the actors deliver solid and
believable performances in this story of boyhood friends whose lives haven't
turned out as they had hoped. Two of them wind up spending a day wandering
the boardwalk at Coney in search of a fellow musketeer who dropped out of sight
years ago..and who, they've heard, was spotted among the homeless people in the
neighborhood. The film doesn't present a story so much as a series
of vignettes, in which even incidental characters have color, life and the
unmistakable mark of truth.
At turns moving and funny, Went to Coney Island is a satisfying slice of life.
WENT
TO CONEY ISLAND ON A MISSION FROM GOD... BE BACK BY FIVE
by Merle Bertrand
Not only does this film, FT's pick as Best Competition Feature, have the coolest
title ever, but this bittersweet, multi-layered comparison of life's realities versus
life's potential is as compelling as it is deeply resonant.
When lifelong buddies Daniel (Jon Cryer) and Stanley (Rick Stear) hear that Richie, their
one-time third musketeer, had been seen wandering around Coney Island homeless and
deranged, they set out on their mission to find him. As they traipse around the nearly
deserted amusement park on a blustery winter day, they encounter a collection of motley
park groupies. As they interact with these odd folks, they gradually become aware of the
drifting stagnation in their own lives while we observe, through intermittent flashbacks,
the moments that brought them to their current state of entrenched ruttedness.
Though it sounds ponderous and preachy, it's actually quite funny and thought provoking.
Co-writer (with Cryer)/director Richard Schenkman tugs a heartstring or two, particularly
when the guys find Richie, a manic depressive scrounging around in the garbage, and we
learn what drove him there. But he mostly just lets us enjoy hanging out with these two
guys for the day. The film is a little slow, but that's more than balanced out by its
resonance. Anyone who's the same age as these guys and who sees everyone around them but
themselves getting a picket fence and a piece of American Dream pie will identify with
their frustrations.
Cryer, to his credit, seems determined to do his own thing; this being his second notable
off-Hollywood turn with Schenkman ("Pompatus of Love".) Not only that, the guy's
just fun to watch; a sort of overlooked Bob Newhart of the 90's. Would somebody please put
him and the oft-confused Matthew Broderick in the same film so that Cryer could get the
recognition he deserves?
It may not necessarily be a mission from the Big Guy, but do yourself a favor and check out this film.
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WENT TO CONEY ISLAND ON A MISSION FROM GOD... BE BACK BY FIVE
ArtsLink Rating: |
4 (of 5) Excellent. Even worth it at one of those $9/ticket theaters. |
by ArtsLink Contributor Adam Mikael Sharp
We also witness the events that led to Richie’s estrangement from the group, and gain insight into the path of self-destruction that has led Stan into a deep pit of gambling debt and alcoholism. But with all the film’s tremendous character development, we are left wondering about Daniel, whose life between high school and present day is only lightly summarized. With crisp, Mamet-esque writing that captures the cadence of New York better than most, cinematography that effectively contrasts the colorful idealism of childhood to the gritty realities of maturity, and a carefully integrated soundtrack and score, Went to... adds tremendous production quality to the already delightful economy of its storytelling. Cryer and Schenkman effectively avoid the cliches that would trap most writers when telling the story. Half-expecting the “happily ever-after” type of ending that is so common in film, the viewer will be impressed by the compromises Cryer and Schenkman choose, allowing redemption for some characters while realizing the difficult-to-repair grim realities of life for the others.
by Maitland McDonaugh
"A darkly humorous lament for squandered potential and lives gone wrong. Went to Coney Island is better than a gimmicky title... genuinely affecting."
by Rogue
by Gary Morris
"Richard Schenkman’s amusing and affecting Went to Coney Island recasts the road movie as an excursion through a deserted amusement park... striking, natural performances... ripe for the rep houses!"
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San Francisco |
by Rob McLaughlin
"...It's powerful, unexpected stuff, [packing] humourous, eye-opening twists and turns and poignant philosophical musings about the fleeting nature of time and love... In the end, the images of our two downtrodden protagonists stalking the boardwalk, shadowed by the faded architectural remnants of adolescent summers past, prove to have a haunting affect on the viewer."
The Edmonton Sun
by Steve Tilley
"... a gem of a film - funny, intelligent and even a little bit
heart-breaking... poignant, revealing and at times, downright funny!"
VUEweekly - Edmonton
by Olav Rokne
"Shenkman's dialog lies somewhere between the sculpted, artful wordplay of David
Mamet and the punchy, pop-cultural speech of Woody Allen. It's the perfect blend to convey
the feelings of characters who have the gnawing suspicion that they haven't lived up to
their parents' legacy. I'd go so far as to say that Went to Coney Island... is
one of the best films of the year."
The Edmonton Journal
by Marc Horton
"... near perfect... It's small, fiercely independent and has the feel of
honesty about it...the kind of uncompromised quality not seen in budget-driven
productions."
See Magazine
by Mari Sasano
"...has a ring of truth to it rarely found in "buddy movies." It's talky, smart and has some truly hilarious moments with strong performances all around."
Der
Schnitt
"...An enchantingly light-footed tragicomedy became the
audience's favorite and was thus chosen the winner of the first Levi's Independence Award.
An outstanding ensemble, sympathetic dialogue, and a clever story that takes us along the
various stages of the lives of the three friends, make 'Went to Coney Island on a Mission
from God... Be Back by Five' more than an enjoyable experience."
Nordwest-Zeitung
"...The farewell is the central motif in Richard
Schenkman's 'Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five', and
Schenkman's farewells are among the most touching we have seen in cinema in recent years.
A wonderful ballad about friendship."
Diabolo
"...In Richard Schenkman's curiously titled 'Went to
Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five' the excellent performances come to
the fore. When the two take off for the search for a lost friend, the journey not only
turns into a trip into the past that is narrated in well-suited flashbacks, but also into
a painful examination of the term "true friendship". 'Went to Coney Island...'
is an empathetic film that inspires meditation with its universal message."
| ©2000 evenmore entertainment All photos by Tom LeGoff |
