Gravesend

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Gravesend ★★½ 1997 (R)

Big cajones, puny budget: mini-Scorsese Stabile delivers the goods. Tracks a night in the life of four delinquent Brooklyn buddies who find themselves with a dead body on their hands. To avoid police involvement, the boys recruit local drug dealer JoJo (Aquilino) to aid in the body's disposal. JoJo demands $500 and a finger from the victim in return. Rest of pic deals with the fellows' quest for the cash and incorporates a deluge of dark humor which, outside of the pat, in your face dialogue and action, is the picture's real draw. Nineteen at the time of shooting, film school dropout's $5,000 auspicious first picture grabbed the attention of such heavy-weights as Spielberg (Stabile now has a two picture deal with his Dreamworks SKG) and Oliver Stone. 85m/C VHS, DVD . Tony Tucci, Michael Parducci, Tom Malloy, Thomas Brandise, Macky Aquilino; D: Salvatore Stabile; W: Salvatore Stabile; C: Joseph Dell'Olio; M: Bill Laswell.

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