Safe Men [Blu-ray]

Director: John Hamburg John Hamburg

Overview

This comedy, set in Rhode Island, follows two lousy singers Sam and Eddie who are mistakenly accepted as safecrackers by the Jewish mafia. They soon find themselves out of their element and ill-prepared for executing heists.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/12/2022
UPC:	0683904635440
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	R
Source:	Nbc Universal
Language:	English
Time:	1:28:00
Sales rank:	40,546

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sam Rockwell	Sam
Steve Zahn	Eddie
Paul Giamatti	Veal Chop
Harvey Fierstein	Good Stuff Leo
Christina Kirk	Hannah
Michael Lerner	Big Fat Bernie Gayle
Mark Ruffalo	Frank
Josh Pais	Mitchell
Michael Schmidt	Bernie Jr.
Mark Shanahan	Party Coordinator
Raymond Serra	Barber
Ray Iannicelli	Swoop
Jacob Reynolds	Cousin Ira
Peter Dinklage	Leflore
Michael Showalter	Larry
Adam Morenoff	Victor
John Tormey	Older Guy
Don Picard	Gunter
Carl Don	Hyman
Allen Swift	Sol
John Hamburg	Philip
Ali Marsh	Sherry
Emily Doubilet	`Sweet' Denise Schneider
Sidney Zubrow	Pappy
Mr. Blue	M.C. Victor
Ellen M. Hauptman	Joyce Kaufman
Dee Dee Friedman	Barbara
Seth Herzog	Gold Trophy
Richard Bolster	Gold Trophy
Brian Mullen	Himself
Ian Helfer	Janusz

Technical Credits

Ellen Bronfman	Producer
Jeffrey Clifford	Producer
Jonathan Cohen	Producer
John Hamburg	Director
Andrew Hauptman	Producer
Avy Kaufman	Casting

Editorial Reviews

From exploding polyester pants and fake ass cheeks to grotesque bar mitzvahs and Jewish gangster schtick, Safe Men is full of comedic elements that may not endear it to good-taste gatekeepers or folks who prefer their humor politically correct. For everyone else, it's a riot -- a tongue-in-cheek combination of the heist flick, the romantic comedy, the Gen X ensemble piece, and the comedy of manners. First-time writer/director John Hamburg turns in a script as incisive as it is funny, deconstructing the very concept of manhood by exposing the foibles of an oddball assortment of well-observed masculine types. From the shy nerd to the wacky slacker, the imposing gangster to the crook with a heart of gold, Hamburg introduces any number of stereotypes, then both undermines and enriches them with clever details and unexpected casting. Paul Giamatti and Harvey Fierstein strike comic gold as, respectively, a Mob henchman with drawstring genie pants and an inferiority complex and a droll, big-stakes fence with a discount showroom and a lethal lisp. Meanwhile, the subtle Sam Rockwell and the zany Steve Zahn dig deep into their screen personae and show us how they tick. Mark Ruffalo doesn't get as much screen time, but his perpetually abashed safecracker is a study in comic economy. The bit players, too, are all consistently fine. Of course, this is the sort of movie where you know the hapless protagonist is going to endure all sorts of humiliations before being rescued by the girl of his dreams -- wry, wonderful girl-next-door Christina Kirk -- in the final reel. But Safe Men is so full of great character acting, surreal humor, and genuine chemistry that any such contrivances fail to matter. Hamburg would go on to become an in-demand Hollywood screenwriter, but this little ensemble piece is truer, and funnier, than anything else on his resume so far.