Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

I like movies that tell the stories of relatively ordinary people with regular lives. They are handed the sorts of problems that actual people may face. No aliens, serial killers, government conspiracies, or broad epic melodrama. These are all fun, no doubt, but a smaller slice of life is a nice change of pace. I've begun to call these "small movies", not to belittle them, but because they have a small focus, generally one life at a particular turning point. There are few grand statements or speeches, just a quiet portrait of life. "Small movies", when well done, can be wonderful, entertaining and insightful. Movies such as "This is My Father" and "Gods and Monsters" are fabulous examples. "Two Family House" fits into this category as well. It's the story of one man's life, the choices he makes, the lives he changes in the process. Nothing earth shattering, just a regular man and his impact on his immediate world.

Our regular guy is Buddy Visalo (Michael Rispoli), a man who sings and was once offered an audition with Arthur Godfrey, which he chose not to take. A harping fiance and her parents facilitated this decision, and it's one that Buddy never forgets, nor, really, forgives. He thus embarks on a life of chasing dreams and failing at every turn. He hates his factory job, his wife (Katherine Narducci) clearly considers him stupid, as well as a failure, and he lives with his in-laws. We get a good glimpse of the box Buddy has built for himself in the movies single sex scene. He and his wife must move quickly and quietly while the in-laws watch Perry Como so that they won't be heard. This goes on for ten years.

When we enter Buddy's world in the early 50's, his latest dream is to become a homeowner. To that end, he buys a big, ramshackle two family house with grand plans to turn the first floor into a tavern and live on the second floor. Unfortunately, the second floor is already occupied by tenants unwilling to either leave or pay rent. Buddy's wife is dead set against the entire plan (even to the point of active sabotage) and wants to go back to her parent's house, where she thinks they belong.

Further complications arise when the woman upstairs, Mary (Kelly McDonald), gives birth to a baby, who by virtue of his skin color, was clearly not fathered by Mary's husband. The husband disappears, and Buddy quickly moves to kick Mary out, her behavior being so scandalous as to be nearly legendary at the local bar. No sooner does she leave than Buddy's conscience kicks in, and guilt finds him helping her, and becoming more and more involved in her life. It is from the grown child's point of view that the story is narrated.

Buddy lives in a world of blatant bigotry and its accompanying cruelty. We see him slowly turn away from lifelong friends as he begins to feel imprisoned by the choices he's made and the values he was raised to hold. He eventually makes major life decisions that change his life, and in many ways free him from his stagnant existence, all at a hefty price.

Rispoli plays Buddy nicely as a conflicted man beginning to wake up to the life he has allowed to happen to him. His behavior is not always admirable, and his choices not always exemplary, but he's not supposed to be a saint, just a man with feet of clay, like everyone else. Buddy is a crooner, and does quite a bit of singing throughout the movie (many times serving to reignite the ancient argument with his wife over the Godfrey audition). The biggest flaw in his performance is that he lip syncs horribly, and whoever does the actual singing is not particularly good. This tends to make one side with the wife in this never ending argument.

Kelly McDonald is solid as Mary, playing her as a woman with a tarnished reputation who makes no apologies for her perceived transgressions. She speaks her mind, lives her life, and accepts the consequences in the world she lives in. McDonald gives her a resigned dignity, while allowing her some vulnerability. These combine to make the character quite appealing.

Director Raymond DeFelitta does a good job bringing the elements together into a nice slice of life portrait of how Buddy manages to shake up his small corner of the world. The narrative, which could be irritating (they often are) is handled well and adds to, rather than detracting from, the film. "Two Family House" won the Audience Award for Dramatic Film at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, an honor it shares with movies such as "Smoke Signals", "The Spitfire Grill", and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch".

The major flaws in "Two Family House" lie in the supporting cast and the "moral". The film works a bit too hard to deliver it's message. The racist language of the supporting cast is too harsh for the tone of the film, and helps turn the supporting players into nothing more than vile stereotypes. Perhaps this is the way things really were, but in the context of this relatively gentle film, it doesn't work particularly well. We would understand Buddy's world, and the magnitude of his decisions, just as well, perhaps better, had this element been less shrill.

I liked the general tone and languid pace of "Two Family House". Looking at the small things that make up the big things that make up a life has an appealing "fly on the wall" feel to it. Despite the flaws, this is a good watch if you're tired of blockbusters, explosions, and sappy romantic comedy. A good, heartfelt "small movie".

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day