Yonkers Joe

every GAMBLER should see this FILM!
This is a terrific film. The inside, tricks of the trade of the gambler are depicted with such realism that I forgot I was watching a movie. Yonkers Joe, played to perfection by Chazz Palminteri can minipulate cards and dice in order to make himself win -- I would defy anyone to try and catch him. What's different about this story is Joe doesn't make a ton of money, he uses his skills to get by until something happens that drives his ambition. I wondered after seeing this movie, if I had ever been conned in this fashion, because I didn't think these types of skilled gamblers would waste their time on small money, back room VFW type poker games. But why not? These people don't care about showing off they just want your money. These are crooked characters who operate outside the law, but when performed and photographed with such honesty and meaning, I understood their motives and was drawn in by them. The story between Chazz and his son is truely moving. If the actor playing Chazz's son...

Tough watch, great gambling film
Aside from the premise that gets repeated everywhere about this being a father/challenged son film, I looked at this as more a gambling film. Once you watch the special features, it was apparent that was the primary intention anyway.

One solid performance by Tom Guiry (who I remember most from Black Irish movie) and a slew of normal performances by everyone else lead up this film about cheats and hustlers making a buck. Chazz as the father, takes over the care of his challenged son that he has essentially ignored for years. Through their trials and difficulties, we see them become closer, all whilst cheating everyone they come across. The filmmakers stressed the importance of the viewer liking the leads, but they were all cheats so it didn't work as well with me.

The special features make this three star film a four though.

15 minute making of documentary; extremely dry and slightly informative.
8 minute documentary on the technical consulting by...

gamble away your good will
Yonkers Joe is about a man who has a special talent for cheating when it comes to gambling, and specifically hiding cards and creating fake dice. The bogus dice is actually the main aspect of his cheating abilities. He knows people on the side who can create believable looking phony dice that bare a striking resemblance to the real thing found in casinos.

There's basically two storylines going back and forth throughout the movie. One of them is about, as I mention above, a dishonest man finding his way inside gambling environments where he can sneakily trick even the most professional of gamblers and pull the biggest money-making scams around town. This guy is really good, because on the rare occasions it's discovered that he'd been cheating, he's always able to hide the dice in time and make a clean escape.

The other storyline is drastically different and involves his mentally challenged teenage son and his numerous problems, such as trying to keep his sons...

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