Movie of the Week: Friends and Romans
Alexa: I think Joel is absolutely right in his assessment that for most people “Friends and Romans” is an average movie, and that’s definitely the case for me. I enjoyed it and don’t regret the time I spent watching it, but I haven’t thought about it much since and I’m not likely to watch it again. It was the perfect way to spend roughly an hour and a half of my holiday break while curled up on the couch. The film’s concept of mob movie extras breaking through typecasting barriers by mounting a Shakespeare production is a clever one, and I honestly would have liked it more if that’s all it was. The plotline with an actual mobster infiltrating the cast adds more conflict, but it distracts from the film’s central premise. For me, the struggle of whether or not the actors can pull this show off successfully is compelling enough on its own. “Friends and Romans” makes some excellent points about how often Italian Americans are stereotyped in popular culture, but it also suffers fr...