The Return of Joe Rich

PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY HOUSE
Joe (Sam Witwer) returns to his old Chicago neighborhood after a failed attempt at living in California. He wants to get back with his old girlfriend (Vanessa Vander Pluym) and join his uncle's Dom (Armand Assante) crime organization. The film interjects people talking about the old days.

By the dialouge, the film is supposed to have two themes. One is that in desperate times, desperate men do desperate things. The second is that being in the organization is not glamorous as it is seen on TV. With DNA testing, cell phones, 911 calls etc. things have changed as Uncle Dom claims to be a dinosaur and attempts to talk Joe out of it. Oh yes, there is a third theme of reoccurring themes, from which we get the title.

The film failed to develop the themes to the fullest while concentrating on Joe, a shallow character attempting to be deep. The film leans more toward a drama than a crime thriller. It is also listed as a "comedy" which consists of old stale jokes that are...

A Chaotic And Over-The-Top Mob Saga That Doesn't Hit Its Stride Until The Second Half
There is so much manic energy in the low budget mob drama "The Return of Joe Rich," the movie is almost overwhelming as you begin to watch it. It plays as a family drama, a broad comedy, a scathing indictment against the status quo, a series of true-life remembrances, and a violent epic. Scenes are cut together with a slap dash urgency that is dizzying. Writer/director Sam Auster throws everything but the kitchen sink at you, hoping his best ideas will coalesce into a stylistic masterpiece. Truthfully, though, the movie is so hectic and so chaotic, it takes a while before you can really start to invest in the storyline and central character. While the film is filled with terrific ideas, they don't always sit comfortably with one another. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't particularly like the first half of "The Return of Joe Rich" for this reason. The screenplay seems to want us to identify with its lead Sam Witwer (SyFy's Being Human), but then allows him to be an...

Don't wast your money or your time on this mess
I watched this movie because it was set in chicago, my home town. By the time the moview was over my head actually ached and I wanted to move somewhere else. There are so many things wrong with this movie it is hard to know where to begin. The plot is incomprehensible; the story line, if that is what it is, jumps around in time until you have no idea when an even is taking place; There is discordant and distracting background music in almost every scene; and finally, after all, that the ending makes no sense at all. Plus there are big meatballs rolling across the screen from time to time - in what, I think is suppose to be a serious film. Don't waste your money or your time.

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