Doughboys DVD: Review By Brian

Doughboys is a low budget film set in the Bronx. It's about two brothers who run their family's bakery. Lou (Louis Lombardi) is quite happy with his life. He works in the shop, he gambles and he conducts his life by a whim. Frank (Gaetano Iacono) is the opposite of his brother. He has a wife, they have a baby on the way and he wants out of the business. Things get complicated when Frank announces his plan to move to Florida, and Lou, in debt up to his ears to Mr. Gregorio bets the bakery, wins but then ends up losing the money. Things continue to escalate with Lou and Frank eventually realizing that love them or hate them... family is family.

While on the surface Doughboys might not seem like anything new, it struck a nice chord as the kind of indy film that isn't made any more. Featuring strong writing, a solid cast, and interesting visuals this film really manages to separate itself from the pack.

No extras came with this release. Damn!

Sadly, MTI didn't send this release with packaging that gave me any real technical specs. Things looked solid but what I loved the most were the way the scenes from the present and the past were cut together. I have to think that this film was lensed in the widescreen aspect ratio, but since I don't know for sure I am not going to stake this review on it.

Again, without the proper packaging it really is a crapshoot to figure out what the audio was. Everything sounded solid and while none of the audio was used to get into the characters heads, things were right where they needed to be for this kind of movie.

Lastly, no packaging means I really can't comment on it. Hopefully, MTI will send us a proper DVD in the future.

From what I understand this movie came out on the festival circuit and then it came straight to DVD. It's a shame because a movie like this could easily have built word of mouth and probably made $10 or $15 million domestically. This is the kind of film that has "Audience Favorite" written all over it. It reminded me of Big Night meets Goodfellas. However, just because the movie was set in New York and featured a largely Italian cast, that doesn't mean that the characters were one dimensional or even familiar. What I liked the most was seeing the interplay of all the characters in the shop, and then seeing how everything came full circle throughout the story.

While not one of those releases that is going to get the sort of push it deserves, Doughboys is the kind of film that will hopefully be appreciated on DVD.