YOU GOT NOTHIN'...REALLY HAS SOMETHIN'
by Stan Williams, Ph.D.
SWC Films
In my 30 years of filmmaking and teaching about it, I've learned there are three elements in filmmaking that signal a film's potential for failure or success. One is the story. A second is the talent in front of and behind the lens. And the third is distribution.
Very few film projects begin with a good story. And bad stories do not attract name actors. And without name actors, getting distribution is impossible. That's the low-down of most motion picture projects.
But occasionally a film comes along that has a great story and script, and although no big names are attached, is a complete joy to watch. My guess is that the distributors that ignore such a jewel will soon regret it. One such film is YOU GOT NOTHIN'.
A Hoboken Romp
Directed by Philip Angelotti, Jr. and co-written and co-produced with friend Steven Langa, YOU GOT NOTHIN' is the story of two young men with big hearts. Joey (Angelotti) and Dominick (Langa), are sentenced to a life of small time debt collecting for Hoboken's big time bookie, "Big Tommy" (Joseph Cortese). Fortunately, Joey and Dominick's hearts are just not into their work. The love of Joey's life is Big Tommy's daughter, Nickie (Ellina McCormick) which if "Big Tommy" finds out, Joey can kiss his legs goodbye; and the love of Dominick's life, his wife, has recently died.
But things are looking up when Dominick persuades Joey to help collect from a deadbeat Russian, who's actually the responsibility of "Big Tommy's" head collector, Charlie. Their collection embarrasses Charlie and he puts Dominick and Joey on notice. But their collection also results in Big Tommy sending Joey and Dominick to LA to collect from another of Charlie's deadbeats, Willie Starks (Brian McNamara).
The journey changes Joey and Dominick's lives when they meet their match in Stark's 10 year-old daughter Rachel (Rachael Langa, played by Steven's real-life daughter) whom they "accidentally" kidnap. It seems Willie isn't the most kind and loving father, and the two debt collectors from Hoboken are won over by the little girl's charm and her need for someone to care for her. When it comes time to make the big exchange, the money for the kid, even a humorous and escalating "Cuban" standoff only stands to draw the trio closer together.
YOU GOT NOTHIN' is a Hoboken romp in LA with a collection of engaging and entertaining characters seemingly lifted from the best of Dutch Leonard. Adding to the joy are dozens of subtle set-ups that charmingly morph into heartfelt payoffs. Watch closely, nothing is wasted. Think GET SHORTY meets MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. The characters are motivated, complex and well-drawn; and the acting and directing makes us believe that these characters are not just real, but the kind of folks we root for.
Follow Your Heart
Kurosawa, the famous Japanese director, was quoting Cecil B. DeMille when he said, "With a good script a good director can produce a masterpiece...but with a bad script even a good director can't possibly make a good film." Key to a good script is its structure, and fundamental to good structure is a moral premise that is consistently applied in every scene and each character's arc. YOU GOT NOTHIN' has all of that.
All good movies have both physical and psychological spines. In YOU GOT NOTHIN' the physical goal of our two protagonists is to collect $400 Big Ones from Willie Starks. But before our protagonists can make much progress in their physical quest, they have to first make progress toward a much more important emotional or psychological quest. And until they take steps to achieve that inner goal, their outward goal will be elusive. Back in Hoboken, Big Tommy gave them a lecture on the importance of following their hearts. But it doesn't connect. Later, in LA, when Joey and Dominick "accidentally" kidnap Rachel Starks (Willie's 10 year old daughter) and then, inadvertently, find themselves playing the role of a protective father, they begin to discover what their hearts long after.
But again the message doesn't sink in until Big Tommy demands that the two mob novitiates cut off the little girl's finger and send it to Willie in order to scare him into coughing up the cash. It's at that point that Joey and Dominick both realize they'd rather cut off their own fingers. Somewhere deep in their hearts they recognize that they don't long to be mobsters who take advantage of others, but men who, like fathers, long to take care of others.
The movie's tag line is "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." It's a line that Big Tommy uses to get his money at any cost, and his desk drawer is full of expensive rings that have fallen off an equal number of severed fingers. But for Joey and Dominick, the tag line takes them in a different direction and sets up the major turning point in the film.
As it is with all well-structured screenplays, psychological turning points help protagonists make progress toward their physical goals, and simultaneously make the filmmakers' messages clear. In the case of YOU GOT NOTHING' the movie's title, tag line, and theme gather momentum and unite to proclaim: Until you follow your heart, and do what you gotta do, you got nothin'.
So we begin to see that Joey and Dominick are frustrated and somewhat inept as debt collectors, because their hearts are somewhere else. Joey begins to realize that he'd be better off as a cook in a restaurant than running the rackets, if he can have Nickie. Nickie, who has refused to take daddy's money and works as a lowly waitress, is likewise frustrated, not just with Joey, but with herself, until she follows her heart and stands by her man in front of her father. Rachel finds herself with an abusive father and threatened by strangers, until she is allowed to follow her heart and once again be reunited with her mother and a new family with Dominick as her dad. And Big Tommy, who never did follow his heart to become a great Italian Tenor, holds onto his daughter, because, despite his syndicate, money and status among lowlifes, when Nickie leaves to get married, Big Tommy will have nothin' left. And Willie Starks, he never did follow what his heart was telling him to do, thinking instead only of himself, and in the end he truly does have nothin'.
The Moral Premise
And this leads us to the film's moral premise that when you take advantage of others you're not following your heart and you got nothin. But when you follow your heart and care for others, you really got something. Such a moral premise will ring true to 99% of American audiences. And like all good stories and movies, this very pro-family message doesn't hit you over the head, but seeps in between the cracks and embraces you heart with grace, flair and laughter.
Angelotti and Langa made the movie, so they say, to prove to producers that as actors they could carry an entire film. Indeed the two have a chemistry that is believable and entertaining to watch. Indeed their performance is so enjoyable, we as the audience want to see more, possibly a sequel. Angelotti's direction is efficient and the film is well paced as events drive the story forward with precision. We're never sure exactly what's going to happen, but we get the sense that the script and the director confidently know the way, and we find ourselves eager to follow.
Angelotti and Langa claim that all of the characters in YOU GOT NOTHIN' are based on real people they know from back home in New Jersey; and the depth of each role reflects the richness that can only come from reality. But, I think the real strength of this project is the story and the script. It just works on all the levels, and Angelotti and Langa can be confident that their execution is not only entertaining and endearing, but will endure as well.
Now, all they need to be really successful is distribution. I never thought too seriously about starting a distribution company, my heart has always been in the more creative side of development. But when you come across a well-crafted project like YOU GOT NOTHIN', it makes one stop and think like a distributor: If I had YOU GOT NOTHIN' I'd really have somethin!