There’s something admirably goofy about “The Brooklyn Banker,” a new film directed by Federico Castelluccio based on the short, “Lily of the Feast.” Unfortunately for Castelluccio, his debut is a film that revels in the trappings and tropes of old gangster films, but without much substance. All of the style it draws from its ‘70s setting vanishes after the opening salvo.
Santo (played with ample charisma by Troy Garity) is a good man working as the vice president of a bank who is gifted with a knack for memorizing numbers. His day to day life with his wife (Elizabeth Masucci) and two daughters doing clean and honest work is upturned when his father-in-law, Benny (Paul Sorvino), puts him on the radar of a local mob boss, Manny (David Proval of “Mean Streets”), by running his mouth about his son-in-law being a math wiz. As one of the few of his childhood friends who managed to make a honest living despite their upbringing, Santo is initially perturbed by the notion, finding ways to evade it until the pressure from Benny forces his hand into attending the meeting, where things, as is often the case with stories of downfalls and corruption, quickly start to fall apart.
Like a daytime soap, it is always a little bit comforting seeing such familiar archetypes onscreen all at once. “The Brooklyn Banker” takes every Italian mob characteristic from classic gangster films and funnels them into the forms of Benny and Manny, to both the film’s fleeting success and detriment. There is something innately intriguing about the Benny type, the sleazy figure on the sidelines who constantly acts as the catalyst of action in the film. In many ways he’s a small man standing on the shoulders of others in order to feel tall, and it’s in those moments where he’s most interesting, but when posturing or playing the role with a tired smugness, Sorvino loses his audience. Manny is a mob boss with a bark much bigger than his bite, looking to make his presence felt at all times, and his attempt to take Santo under his wing rings hollow for the majority of their confrontations and debates.
Troy Garity fares better for the run of the film, effortlessly passing off the stoically charming vibes of Bobby Cannavale, but it’s difficult not to recommend the underseen gem “Soldier’s Girl” if you’re looking for a real demonstration of his talents. As Santo he plays an undervalued wiz kid (a character beat that comes and goes at the plot’s convenience) and there’s a hint that he could have done more with his life if he had taken advantage of his natural talents, which adds layers of depth to a character that easily could have played out as one note. However, our investment in him doesn’t lend much in the way of excitement towards the film. He gives Santo heart, but not enough to make up for what the film lacks in it.
The biggest pitfall in “The Brooklyn Banker,” which starts out promising enough, is that it has a lack of purpose and little idea about what direction it wants its story to go. The point of the film is muddled: what story exactly is it trying to tell, if any at all? At a glance it appears it’s a film about an honest man breaking bad. Upon further inspection it plays with the notion of legacy — what does it mean when you come from a family of thieves and crooks, and can you truly break free from those constraints? However the closer it brings us to the characters the more detached we feel, as this familiar story about a good man finding himself in over his head quickly veers off course, turning into a movie about crooked gangsters, redeeming your morals, father and son dynamics and so much, too much, more.
“The Brooklyn Banker” would have benefited from not trying to expand on its short film length. There’s simply not enough story to justify even the lean 83 minute runtime. By the time the turning point of pivotal decision making has taken place, we’re barely a half hour in and the emotional well quickly runs dry.
Where the film finds its success, beyond the sturdy leading performance by Garity, is in the technical side of the storytelling. The set design is wonderful, masking the smaller budget with a lived in atmosphere from worn down costumes, the just too cramped houses, to the more practical set pieces that make the 1973, Williamsburg Brooklyn atmosphere come alive. The score and its excellent deployment of Frank Sinatra, the hazy, bleached out cinematography and Castelluccio’s eye for dynamic shots allows for “The Brooklyn Banker” to be more than a bust and come alive despite its unoriginal plot. Yet, with a weak script and underwhelming performances, there’s nothing about the film to latch onto or celebrate, but there’s just enough craftsmanship on display to walk away not feeling like it’s a complete failure. [C]