Customer Reviews

Cookie [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This movie is good fun. The actors are great: Emily Lloyd, Peter Falk and Adrian Pasdar. It's Peter Falk's typical role and if you like him in it, you'll like him here. Emily should have had more movies because she is great - and finally Adrian Pasdar gets a real chance in a movie. Good entertainment.

A great sunday afternoon fun story.

COOKIE (1989) stars British-born Emily Lloyd as the hard-edged daughter of a recently paroled Mafia boss (Peter Falk); her mother (Dianne Wiest) is the man's mistress. Cookie (Carmela) is too much like her old man ('Dapper Dino' Capisco) for comfort-- she has his toughness, courage under fire and violent tendencies. Dad chooses to ignore these however and berates the girl for her "early-Madonna" fashion sense and trampy behavior, which makes their initial reunion after his 13 year "stretch" a rocky one.

As with any crime family story, money is a factor here. Dino's partner (Carmine) sold their business venture while Dino was in jail, and refuses to give up half the money. The rest of the story involves double-crosses and redouble-crosses that pit Cookie and her father against the mob and an ambitious D.A.

Considering the subject matter, COOKIE is a pleasant movie scripted by Nora Ephron. A cast of familiar faces, like Michael V. Gazzo as the chiseling Carmine (he was Frankie Pantangelo in "Godfather II"), and Jerry Lewis as the mobster who bought out the business, keep things lively throughout. Watch for a pre-diet Ricki Lake as Cookie's girlfriend.

(Not available on DVD.)

Emily Lloyd portrayed Bruce Willis's daughter in IN COUNTRY(1989), which is the story of an ex-Vietnam vet who's disabled by PTSD.

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(5.2) Cookie (1989) - Peter Falk/Dianne Wiest/Emily Lloyd/Michael V. Gazzo/Brenda Vaccaro/Lionel Stander/Jerry Lewis/Ricki Lake/Joy Behar

This has taken the place of many others as Pride Of My DVD Collection. I remember watching this movie when I was a kid (probably not the best idea, but for someone like me its different) and being in love with Emily Lloyd. It was a cool movie, I didnt know much from much at that age so I didnt get much of the references, jokes and language so I just saw it for what it was.

My Dad's family's from Bensonhurst and is Italian so I kind of felt at home watching Cookie, my aunt (who passed away a while ago and loved very much, we were all very tight knit, typical Italian family) actually lived on the block where the Riviera restaurant is (The Christmas party scene) and the limo chase scene took place and she used to tell me about when they were filming there, I can even point out the door to her apartment to this day. As I got older I was able to watch the movie from a different perspective, having learned more about the Mafia and whatnot, on top of the NY Italian atmosphere I was born in and grew up around.

Dianne Weist is amazing in her role as Lenore, Cookie's mother and Dino's goomah (mistress to the uneducated), from the typical Italian Catholic guilt she lays on Cookie and Dino in certian scenes (namely the prelude to the Christmas party, classic), to the hair, clothes and general attitude. And of course with that comes the classic performance of Peter Falk. He plays the poverbial straight man in the film with a nice amount of jabs and punchlines here and there. And of course I cant not mention Emily Lloyd in the title role. A British actress, she managed to perfectly bring the character to life, the clothes, the makeup, the attitude, and of course the accent. The perfect dysfunctional Italian family, more or less, and Ive seen my fair share in my own family believe it.

The late, great Michael Gazzo turns in another incredible performance as Mafia capo Carmine Tarantino. His voice and mannerisms bring another layer of authenticity to the role, having played Frankie Pentangeli in The Godfather Part 2 and other similar roles. There are so many other great performers in the film, one in particular is a young Adrian Pasdar of "Near Dark" and "Heroes" fame.

I could go on and on about this movie fondly, but all I can say is, anyone who's Italian and is from NYC, especially Brooklyn, can watch this movie and feel like youre home, but anyone in general can enjoy this film. I highly suggest it.

After her sparkling debut in "Wish You Were Here" great things were promised for Emily Lloyd. She more than held her own with Bruce Willis in the criminally underrated "In Country". After a tiny role in "A River Runs Through It" Lloyd was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance that pretty much sidetracked her career which is a real tragedy. There's not much to add about Peter Falk. From his chilling portrayal of mob enforcer Abe Reles in "Murder Inc." to the irrepressible "Columbo" Falk is an institution. The teaming of the two heightened my excitement about this film. Falk and Lloyd definitely don't disappoint. The chemistry between them crackles and you sense that they enjoy working with one another. The letdown here is in the story which if you put it mildly is a little thin. In a nutshell it's a cross between a routine mob story and "The Sting". Scenarists Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen lay the Italian stereotypes a mite thick for my liking. Instead of the promised homerun the flick is a solid double. "The View" fans should look close and not blink and you'll momentarily see Joy Behar.

Always wanted a DVD copy of this movie.(only available VHS before) Glad it's out on DVD now.

Very funny and entertaining.

This is a really cute story about the relationship between a father (Peter Falk) who is a mobster just released from prison who meets his daughter for the first time. It's a comedy with some foreseeable events but it's the performances that are fun to watch. Falk is terrific. Weist is lovingly hilarious as the "oversexed" mistress and mother of the daughter. Brenda Vacarro is wonderfully funny in a campy role as the wife. But Adrian Pasdar as the daughter's love interest and "young sidekick, mobster wannabe" is usually the perfect foil for the rest of the other outrageous, campy roles. Pasdar charmingly steals the scenes. Even though he is often the "straight man" in this comedy, he manages to play the comedic parts very well and is as funny as the more seasoned actors. Though dated (the daughter is a "Madonna wannabe") it is a truly fun ride.