Il padrone di casa

Vincent Gardenia (inhis last screen role) is a slumlord who taught his son, Joe Pesci their tenants are animals: collect rents and put nothing into the buildings. But the City has caught up to them, and it's one of the buildings in Pesci's name, so he is the one sentenced to occupy an apartment there and to bring it up to code. And so we meet his tenants, and they are just as much stereotyped jerks as he is. In the face of this, he has no incentive to do anything but squat in misery when Gardenia tries to put the fix in.

Of course we know going in that Pesci will have a change of heart by the end, and it has to arise from somewhere: there's the welfare lawyer Madelyn Smith Osborne, whom Pesci propositions every time they speak, and 13-year-old Kenny Blank, who lives with his father and hustles in a sweet-faced manner, and gives the most endearing performance in the movie. In the meantime, Pesci is stuck with the unenviable task oif taking a thoroughly unlikeable character, having him kicked repeatedly for the audience's amusement, and still have the audience on his side as he finally reforms. Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton had managed this in a few of their features in the 1920s, but it's a tough thing to manage,, especially given that for the first time in his career, Pesci is the lead..

I don;t think this movie succeeds in its ambitions, but there are certainly enough good moments to keep the audience entertained.

The Super is a 1991 comedy that centers around a slumlord who gets sentenced by a judge to live in his own dilapidated building until it's brought up to code.

This is a great comedy from the early 90's starring Joe Pesci that isn't high on the radar, but definitely should be. Pesci's performance is hilarious and with the rest of the cast bring nothing but a good time to the table. The story is creative and funny, the jokes are silly but effective, and there's no shortage of entertaining moments that will make its 86 minute run time fly by.

I've loved this movie since I was a kid, and if you haven't seen it before, I would recommend checking it out.

Early 90's rendition of Hal Ashby's 1970 film "The Landlord," which is given the comic...or attempted comic treatment by Pesci as a snobby slumlord who moves in to his slum and sees the light; the error of his rich boy ways. Badly written and unbeliveable pretty much all the way through. One of Gardenia's final films.

This is a pretty straight-forward comedy. Son wants to please his hard-nosed, cheap father by being the cheapest building owner he can be. But as he is sentenced to live in one of his worst maintained buildings, he is forced to learn several lessons about life. Not everyone likes this type of humor, but if you liked Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie I would be sure to watch this movie. As the tight-wad Super, most of the jokes are at Pesci's character's expense. However, it still leaves room for Pesci's particular style of humor. The "love" story is pretty typical but in no way detracts from the movie. The people he becomes involved with could be anybody living anywhere in the US. There are not many recognizable names in this movie but has some familiar faces that I remember from other movies. I found this to be a hilarious movie and wholly recommend it.

The joke is a bigoted slumlord forced to live in his own building. Joe Pecci is excellent as "The Super", who gets a real education from his tenants. His red Corvette is stripped the first night. He is constantly hustled by his neighbors. Scenes such as when he goes to the local grocery to buy wine, or when his elegant girlfriend visits his dumpy apartment, are classic comedy. Vincent Gardenia as Peci's overbearing father, is a role not unlike the one he played in "Fire Sale". "The Super" is sort of a cross between "Fire Sale" and Mel Brooks "Life Stinks". The movie definitely is re watchable, and most likely will seem even funnier on repeat viewings. Highly recommended, especially for those who appreciate dark comedy. - MERK