Review Fix 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Coverage: ‘Loose Change’ Review

Every year at Tribeca, a short film comes along that you don’t want to see end. It’s smart, funny at all the right places and puts a smile on your face.

Phil Botti’s ‘Loose Change’ is a perfect example of all of that.

Carmine Famiglietti plays Jimmy, a plump Brooklynite who can’t seem to get on his elderly landlord’s good side. With a Kevin James meets Tony Soprano look to him, Famiflietti, garbed in New Jersey Nets and other sports teams shirts throughout the picture, is undeniably Italian and even more undeniably Brooklyn. He’s appeared in several other shorts over the years and after this, it is obvious he’s due a decent role in a longer film. Good-looking, but large, Famiglietti is a perfect everyman with a bit of Jackie Gleason charisma, which makes him accessible, funny and perfect for this role.

The same thing can be said for Graciela Lecube’s portrayal of old Mrs. Alvarado. A bit crazy, but ultimately smarter than every one else thinks, Lecube [older soap fans may remember her from her run on “One Life to Life” almost 30 years ago] is hilarious in every scene and makes herself loveable by being completely and utterly annoying and rude.

Annie Basulto and Madeline Deferrari are also cute and fun in their small roles and do a solid job of making Famiglietti that much more realistic. Had he been miserable throughout the performance and without any company, the film would have lost some of its staying power. However with two beautiful young actresses by his side at different times, he’s a more interesting character and the film is better because of it.

With a great look, dark humor and great performances from everyone involved, “Loose Change” feels like an episode of “King of Queens,” with a Scorsesean twist [think of his older work, such as “After Hours”]. Because of that, it’s a treasure to behold.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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