Casino Co-star Joe

Pesci's filmography is hardly the most family-friendly, though a few notable outliers have shown off a less profane side of the actor. In 1997, Pesci made angling comedy Gone Fishin' with his Lethal Weapon co-star Danny Glover, and he voiced a mosquito in 2015 animation A Warrior's Tail, but you'd have to go all the way back to the early 90s to find a Joe Pesci movie general audiences. He even joined with his friend Frank Vincent to start a vaudeville-style comedy act, but met with limited success (interestingly, Pesci and Vincent would later go on to co-star in several gangster films together, including Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995). Pesci's first film role was as an uncredited dancer in Hey, Let's Twist!

1. Casino Co Star Joe
2. Casino Co-star Joe
3. Casino Co Star Joe
4. Casino Co Star Joe Crossword Clue

Billy Bob Thornton full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films. Find the answer to the crossword clue 'Home Alone' actor Joe. 1 answer to this clue. 'Casino' actor Joe 'Casino' co-star, 1995 'GoodFellas' Oscar winner.

'A mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma' is not only one of the most memorable quotes from Oliver Stone's JFK but also an apt description for the actor who delivered it: Oscar winner Joe Pesci. Anyone who's been to the movies in the last four decades 'knows' Joe Pesci from his most memorable screen performances: streetwise, fast-talking, and volcanic-tempered ('Am I a clown?') in films like Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1992) and Casino (1995), irascible and tenacious in Home Alone (1992) and the Lethal Weapon franchise. Pesci's screen persona is so indelible that it's almost become an adjective: when Snickers wanted an immediately identifiable visual cue to sum up the short fuse that comes with being 'hangry,' they tapped him.

The problem with 'knowing' Pesci through his screen work is that the actor seems to work overtime to be unknown, avoiding not only any comparison to his best-known roles, but also leaving no footprint in the public arena. A notoriously reticent interview who gave what is possibly the shortest acceptance speech in Oscar history, Pesci defied industry expectations by turning his back on Hollywood just as it elevated him to leading man status (admittedly, in lackluster projects like Gone Fishin'). At the height of his fame, he retired from acting and focused on what might be the last artistic endeavor anyone would expect from Pesci: music. And even after netting his third Oscar nomination for a 'comeback' project — Scorsese's The Irishman — Pesci again faded from view after the acclaim, leaving more questions in his wake. Is there any way to unravel the riddle-wrapped mystery of Joe Pesci? Here are a few clues that might shed some light.

Introducing Little Joe

Born Joseph Frank Pesci on February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, Pesci started his uncomfortable relationship with the spotlight at an early age. His father, Angelo, worked multiple blue-collar jobs, and sought to spare Pesci and his two siblings from a similar future. Show business was seen as their ticket to a better life, and by the time he was five years old, Pesci was performing on stage and on Star Time Kids, a television variety series that aired on New York's WNBT (now WNBC) from 1950 to 1955. The experience was, by Pesci's own description, less than pleasurable: in a 1992 interview with the New York Times, he said, 'I grew up in the business. I had no choice.' He added that he didn't think it was right to be pushed into entertainment, and if given the choice, he would have done something 'more calming, in a different area where I did not have to use my emotions.'

The total entertainmer

Though Pesci was less than enthused about performing, it kept him afloat during his pre-fame days. Pesci sang and played guitar in a string of pop and rock acts, most notably in the touring version of the popular New York act Joey Dee and the Starliters, which provided him with his first feature film appearance as an extra in the band's star vehicle, Hey, Let's Twist! (1961). It's worth noting that after Pesci's departure, both Jimi Hendrix and Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers held down his guitar spot in the group.

Pesci then made his bid for solo pop stardom in 1968 with the release of Little Joe Sure Can Sing! But the LP, which features Pesci covering songs by the Beatles and Bee Gees in a perfectly acceptable voice (that sounds more than a bit like his childhood friend, Frankie Valli), was not a hit, and he returned to gigging, this time with another Jersey musician, Frank Vincent. But live music on the club circuit was out of fashion in the early '70s, and the pair turned to comedy as a duo, Vincent and Pesci. Decades after they hung up the act, Vincent would remain Pesci's friend off-camera and frequent nemesis on film: Pesci brutalized Vincent in Raging Bull and buried him alive in Goodfellas, while Vincent returned the favor by bashing in Pesci's skull in Casino.

How to make a mobster

In 1975, Pesci made another bid for fame by co-starring in The Death Collector (also known as Family Enforcer), a low-budget Mafia thriller with Joe Cortese (Green Room) and Pesci as strong-arm types for the Mob, and Frank Vincent as their first target. Solid reviews from the New York Times, among others, prompted Pesci to head to Hollywood. But he found few takers there, and by 1978, Pesci was back in New York and working as a manager for Amici, a restaurant in the Bronx. And it was at this low point that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro came calling; the director and star had seen Pesci in Death Collector and sought him out to play Joey LaMotta, the brother, manager, and eventual bane of boxer Jake LaMotta's existence. Critical response was overwhelmingly positive for Pesci's performance, and an Oscar nomination in 1981 seemed to all but confirm that he was destined for lasting fame. Or so one would think.

Mr. Wonderful

Think about Joe Pesci's film career for a moment: what immediately comes to mind? The Scorsese collaborations, for sure. Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny, and his three Lethal Weapon movies. If you're a real movie buff: JFK, and maybe even Easy Money. Now take a look at Pesci's credits on IMDb, and you'll see that he worked steadily between Raging Bull in 1980 and Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998. If you're an omnivorous movie watcher, a handful of these might be familiar to you: Pesci had a small role opposite De Niro in the legendary Sergio Leone's last film, Once Upon a Time in America, and co-starred as (you guessed it) a mobster in the De Niro-helmed A Bronx Tale.

Many of his credits, however, are most likely to be total obscurities to you. Did you know that in 1983, Pesci starred as a bowling alley owner with dreams of stardom in the West German musical Dear Mr. Wonderful? Or co-starred in Man on Fire — not the Denzel Washington action thriller, but the 1987 Italian/French film on which it's based? It's most likely that in 1989, you didn't see Pesci's turns as American author John Dos Passos in The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway, or a thinly veiled Weegee, the legendary photographer, in 1992's The Public Eye. The takeaway? Pesci's hits are very, very big, and his misses disappear, with little in between.

Half Baked

Pesci has given few, if any interviews since announcing his retirement, so his reasons for the decision remain solely with him. However, it's possible that he simply lost his taste for the projects that were being offered to him. As far back as 1992, Pesci told the New York Times that many of the roles brought to him were 'stupid, ethnic Italian parts' with 'pizza-pie stupid jokes.' And while he mostly avoided that characterization in his film work, Pesci did withstand a barrage of jokes about his height (he's 5'5') in the dismal NBC action-comedy Half Nelson.

Pesci was top-billed as Rocky Nelson, an NYPD detective who works for a private security firm while trying to launch an acting career. The series, co-created by Glen A. Larson (Battlestar Galactica), paired Pesci with former football greats Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith as security team members, Saturday Night Live alum Victoria Jackson in scatterbrained secretary/romantic interest mode, and a visibly unwell Dean Martin as himself. At the time of its release, critic David Handler described Half Nelson (via Television Obscurities) as '[managing] to leave you feeling both bored and soiled,' which undoubtedly helped capsize the series after just seven episodes.

Anything but super

Joe Pesci's Oscar win for his work in Goodfellas helped to wipe away any residue from Half Nelson or his other early obscurities, and it's likely that he saw the win as the start of a new and improved phase of his career. 'I love to star in movies,' he told the New York Times in 1992. 'But I want to have good roles. It doesn't help to get starring roles in something that's no good. I mean, that will just kill you.' And for the most part, that's exactly what happened to Pesci during the 1990s.

Though he netted major box office hits with Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny, and the Lethal Weapon films, much of his output during the 1990s was dismissed by critics and audiences alike. Attempts to fashion him as a comedic leading man in The Super (1991) and Gone Fishin' (1997) were busts, as were dramatic turns in the terminally soggy With Honors (1994), which cast him as a homeless man with a big heart and a scholar's brain. He even dabbled in fantasy, playing a cartoonish mobster in the surreal Michael Jackson music project Moonwalker. By 1998, Pesci had clearly lost his patience with the industry: after logging his third and final turn as machine gun-mouthed Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 4 — which earned him a Razzie nomination — he retired from acting as a full-time profession and focused his energies elsewhere.

Little Joe sure is back!

For much of the new millennium, Joe Pesci stuck to his decision to put acting on the back burner. There were offers — he was courted by HBO for the ill-fated racing drama series Luck, but as he told Empire in 2012, 'I'm not looking for a job.' He instead focused his energies on golf and, to the surprise of many, his first love: singing. In 1998, Pesci released Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You, his second album and first new recording in three decades. This being a Pesci project, the album is eccentric, to say the least: the title name checks his Cousin Vinny character and features an ill-advised pass at hip-hop with the single 'Wise Guy.' But again, Pesci proves that he knows his way around standards and club tunes with his renditions of 'What a Wonderful World,' the jazz standard 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love,' and a bawdy version of the Ray Charles number 'I've Got News For You.'

Critics and listeners alike weren't sure if Sings was comedy, pop, or jazz, and largely dismissed the effort as a vanity project. But Pesci kept his hand in music, though subsequent releases dropped any pretense of humor. As 'Joe Doggs,' he earned respectable reviews for Falling in Love Again, a collaboration with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, and held his own with his idol, Little Jimmy Scott, on 'The Folks Who Live on the Hill,' a stately duet featured on the legendary vocalist's final studio album, I Go Back Home, in 2017. Two years later, Pesci would release his third album to date, Still Singing, which featured two duets with Maroon 5's Adam Levine, of all people.

A made man?

In a 2016 interview with Milwaukee magazine, comedy legend Don Rickles, who appeared with Pesci in Casino, said of his co-star, 'I think sometimes he believed he was with the Mob. But he got over it.' Given Pesci's terrifying performances as gangsters, it's understandable how some might misconstrue him as a made man. And while there are stories of the actor interacting with organized crime elements — according to Ray Liotta, the 'Am I a clown?' exchange from Goodfellas is reportedly based on a real exchange between Pesci and an actual gangster — he's kept himself out of trouble offscreen. Well, for the most part.

Poker face youtube. In 2006, Pesci was involved in an alleged assault against an overzealous fan in Florida; according to a police report, he struck a man who ignored his request to refrain from taking his picture. Prosecutors dismissed the allegations over a lack of evidence. A half-decade later, Pesci was involved in not one but two legal cases: the first, in 2012, involved his second ex-wife, actress/model Claudia Haro, who was sentenced to 12 years for allegedly hiring a hitman to rub out her second husband, stuntman Garrett Warren. Pesci was briefly considered as the supposed source of financing for the failed hit, though the allegations were eventually dismissed. The following year, Pesci was awarded an unspecified court settlement from Fiore Pictures after he sued the company for allegedly reducing his salary and role in what would become the 2018 biopic Gotti with John Travolta.

In 2020, Pesci was part of a neighborhood squabble near his home on the Jersey Shore over two property owners' application to extend the docks on their waterfront homes. Pesci lodged a complaint with environmental protection officials, who firmly but politely requested denial of the proposed extension.

So who is this Pesci guy, anyway?

There's no question that Joe Pesci is a complicated individual. Even he's noted as much: in an interview with the Baltimore Sun (via Complex), he recalled feeling what could be described as an existential crisis while playing a game of his beloved golf. 'I didn't know who the hell was about to hit that golf ball,' he said. 'Was it Leo Getz or David Ferry or Tommy or Harry or Joe? I've spent so much time as somebody else, and so little time as myself, I lost sight of who I was for an instant.'

Pesci is an enormously talented actor, and if his quietly menacing performance in The Irishman is any indication, one still capable of mesmerizing audiences. But he seems to prefer to distance himself from acting and instead focus on other outlets that appear to have a greater hold on his heart, including singing and tending to his own personal well-being. And if acting has left him feeling misunderstood, misrepresented, and even left him unsure of who he really is, it's understandable that he's chosen to step away from it. So what's the untold truth of Joe Pesci? He has his world, and we have ours. And given the choice, Joe Pesci would seem to prefer to remain the enigma, the mystery, and the riddle, all wrapped in one.

The House is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Andrew J. Cohen, and co-written by Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. The film stars Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Simpkins, Nick Kroll, Allison Tolman, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins, and Jeremy Renner, and follows a couple who open an underground casino in their friend's house in order to pay for their daughter's college tuition.

Principal photography began on September 14, 2015 in Los Angeles. The film was released on June 30, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures, received negative reviews from critics^[3] and grossed $34 million worldwide against its $40 million budget.

Plot[edit]

During their visit to Bucknell University, husband and wife Scott (Ferrell) and Kate Johansen (Poehler) warn their daughter of the dangers of being in college. Alex (Simpkins) acknowledges her parents' warnings and expresses her interest in attending the same university her parents went to. Alex gets accepted to the university, which the Johansens expect to be funded by their community's scholarship program.

Unfortunately, during a community town hall meeting, city councilor Bob Schaeffer (Kroll) announces that they will not be doing the scholarship program, in favor of building a community pool, to which everyone agrees except the Johansens. The couple tries to find funding through asking for a loan, a salary raise for Scott, and getting Kate's job back, but everything is denied. They reluctantly agree to accompany their friend and neighbor, Frank Theodorakis (Mantzoukas), whose wife Raina (Watkins) is divorcing him over his gambling and porn addiction, to a previously-planned trip to Las Vegas. After numerous wins playing craps they lose their winnings after Scott jinxes the table by telling Frank not to roll a seven.

Back home, Frank convinces the Johansens to start an underground casino at his house to raise money for Alex's tuition and to help him get his wife back. The casino operation proves to be running smoothly as they gain more customers. In another community town-hall meeting, city councilor Bob becomes suspicious at the low attendance and suspends the meeting to launch an investigation. Back to the Johansens' casino, Frank discovers that one of the gamblers, Carl (Zissis), is counting cards. The Johansens and Frank confront him, but he brags that he works for mob boss Tommy Papouli (Renner). Scott accidentally chops off Carl's middle finger, earning him the nickname 'The Butcher', making the community afraid of him, which inadvertently increases their profits.

Several thousand dollars away from reaching their goal, they are caught by Bob and officer Chandler (Huebel), who confiscate their money and order them to close down the casino. Nonetheless, they continue their business. The house burns down after being invaded by Tommy Papouli, whom the Johansens accidentally set on fire. Having admitted their plot to Alex, they team up with officer Chandler, who had let them loose, to steal the money back from Bob. Officer Chandler convinces Bob that the three still continued the casino even after he had ordered them to stop and shows a video of the people mocking him. Bob asks Officer Chandler to go with him to arrest the Johansens at the casino, which gives the Johansens the chance to steal their money back. Dawn (Tolman) alerts Bob that the Johansens are in the town hall, which convinces Bob to go back. Bob tries to make Officer Chandler drive faster, but gets into an accident himself. Bob runs back on foot to the town hall to find the Johansens with the money. After chasing the Johansens, Bob reveals his personal interest with the casino money as well as his plot to steal money from the city budget for himself and Dawn, who leaves him and returns to her husband Joe (Scovel). Bob is arrested, while Scott and Kate use the money they took back from him to pay for their daughter's college tuition.

Cast[edit]

• Will Ferrell as Scott Johansen
• Amy Poehler as Kate Johansen, Scott's wife
• Jason Mantzoukas as Frank Theodorakis, Kate and Scott's best friend
• Ryan Simpkins as Alex Johansen, Scott and Kate's daughter
• Nick Kroll as Bob Schaeffer, a crooked City Hall councilman
• Allison Tolman as Dawn Mayweather, the City's treasurer and Bob's lover.
• Rob Huebel as Police Officer Chandler
• Michaela Watkins as Raina Theodorakis, Frank's ex-wife
• Jeremy Renner as Tommy Papouli, a local mafia boss
• Cedric Yarbrough as Reggie Henderson
• Rory Scovel as Joe Mayweather, Dawn's husband who retired at 30.
• Lennon Parham as Martha
• Andrea Savage as Laura
• Andy Buckley as Craig
• Kyle Kinane as Kevin Garvey
• Steve Zissis as Carl Shackler, a henchman of Tommy Papouli
• Sam Richardson as Marty
• Randall Park as Buckler
• Jessica St. Clair as Reba
• Alexandra Daddario as Corsica
• Jessie Ennis as Rachel
• Gillian Vigman as Becky
• Wayne Federman as Chip Dave
• Sebastian Maniscalco as Stand-Up Comic
• Linda Porter as Old Lady
• Ian Roberts as Driver at College Campus
• Bruna Rubio as Stripper

Production[edit]

On February 25, 2015, it was announced that New Line Cinema had won an auction for the comedy script The House, written by Brendan O'Brien and Andrew J. Cohen, and that Cohen would make his directorial debut with the film.^[5]Will Ferrell would star as a husband who teams up with his wife and neighbors to start an illegal casino in his basement, to earn money, after their daughter's college scholarship is lost.^[5] Ferrell and Adam McKay produced through Gary Sanchez Productions, along with Good Universe and O'Brien.^[5][6]Amy Poehler joined the cast on June 12, 2015, to play Ferrell's character's wife.^[6] On June 16, 2015, Jason Mantzoukas joined to play Ferrell's character's best friend, who is dealing with a gambling problem, and who gives the couple the idea to start a casino.^[7] On August 28, 2015, Ryan Simpkins was added to the cast, to play Ferrell and Poehler's characters' daughter.^[8] On September 15, 2015, Cedric Yarbrough signed on to play Reggie Henderson, a hardworking suburban resident who starts gambling in the new casino to de-stress.^[9] Frank Gerrish also joined the film.^[9] On September 18, 2015, Rob Huebel was added to the cast,^[10] and on September 21, 2015, Allison Tolman and Michaela Watkins were added to the cast, with Tolman playing a financial advisor, and Watkins playing Mantzoukas' character's wife, who wants him to sign divorce papers. Nick Kroll also joined the cast.^[11]Mariah Carey was supposed to have a cameo in the film, but had what co-star Rob Huebel called 'multiple unrealistic demands'.^[12]

Introducing Little Joe

Born Joseph Frank Pesci on February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, Pesci started his uncomfortable relationship with the spotlight at an early age. His father, Angelo, worked multiple blue-collar jobs, and sought to spare Pesci and his two siblings from a similar future. Show business was seen as their ticket to a better life, and by the time he was five years old, Pesci was performing on stage and on Star Time Kids, a television variety series that aired on New York's WNBT (now WNBC) from 1950 to 1955. The experience was, by Pesci's own description, less than pleasurable: in a 1992 interview with the New York Times, he said, 'I grew up in the business. I had no choice.' He added that he didn't think it was right to be pushed into entertainment, and if given the choice, he would have done something 'more calming, in a different area where I did not have to use my emotions.'

The total entertainmer

Though Pesci was less than enthused about performing, it kept him afloat during his pre-fame days. Pesci sang and played guitar in a string of pop and rock acts, most notably in the touring version of the popular New York act Joey Dee and the Starliters, which provided him with his first feature film appearance as an extra in the band's star vehicle, Hey, Let's Twist! (1961). It's worth noting that after Pesci's departure, both Jimi Hendrix and Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers held down his guitar spot in the group.

Pesci then made his bid for solo pop stardom in 1968 with the release of Little Joe Sure Can Sing! But the LP, which features Pesci covering songs by the Beatles and Bee Gees in a perfectly acceptable voice (that sounds more than a bit like his childhood friend, Frankie Valli), was not a hit, and he returned to gigging, this time with another Jersey musician, Frank Vincent. But live music on the club circuit was out of fashion in the early '70s, and the pair turned to comedy as a duo, Vincent and Pesci. Decades after they hung up the act, Vincent would remain Pesci's friend off-camera and frequent nemesis on film: Pesci brutalized Vincent in Raging Bull and buried him alive in Goodfellas, while Vincent returned the favor by bashing in Pesci's skull in Casino.

How to make a mobster

In 1975, Pesci made another bid for fame by co-starring in The Death Collector (also known as Family Enforcer), a low-budget Mafia thriller with Joe Cortese (Green Room) and Pesci as strong-arm types for the Mob, and Frank Vincent as their first target. Solid reviews from the New York Times, among others, prompted Pesci to head to Hollywood. But he found few takers there, and by 1978, Pesci was back in New York and working as a manager for Amici, a restaurant in the Bronx. And it was at this low point that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro came calling; the director and star had seen Pesci in Death Collector and sought him out to play Joey LaMotta, the brother, manager, and eventual bane of boxer Jake LaMotta's existence. Critical response was overwhelmingly positive for Pesci's performance, and an Oscar nomination in 1981 seemed to all but confirm that he was destined for lasting fame. Or so one would think.

Mr. Wonderful

Think about Joe Pesci's film career for a moment: what immediately comes to mind? The Scorsese collaborations, for sure. Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny, and his three Lethal Weapon movies. If you're a real movie buff: JFK, and maybe even Easy Money. Now take a look at Pesci's credits on IMDb, and you'll see that he worked steadily between Raging Bull in 1980 and Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998. If you're an omnivorous movie watcher, a handful of these might be familiar to you: Pesci had a small role opposite De Niro in the legendary Sergio Leone's last film, Once Upon a Time in America, and co-starred as (you guessed it) a mobster in the De Niro-helmed A Bronx Tale.

Many of his credits, however, are most likely to be total obscurities to you. Did you know that in 1983, Pesci starred as a bowling alley owner with dreams of stardom in the West German musical Dear Mr. Wonderful? Or co-starred in Man on Fire — not the Denzel Washington action thriller, but the 1987 Italian/French film on which it's based? It's most likely that in 1989, you didn't see Pesci's turns as American author John Dos Passos in The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway, or a thinly veiled Weegee, the legendary photographer, in 1992's The Public Eye. The takeaway? Pesci's hits are very, very big, and his misses disappear, with little in between.

Half Baked

Pesci has given few, if any interviews since announcing his retirement, so his reasons for the decision remain solely with him. However, it's possible that he simply lost his taste for the projects that were being offered to him. As far back as 1992, Pesci told the New York Times that many of the roles brought to him were 'stupid, ethnic Italian parts' with 'pizza-pie stupid jokes.' And while he mostly avoided that characterization in his film work, Pesci did withstand a barrage of jokes about his height (he's 5'5') in the dismal NBC action-comedy Half Nelson.

Pesci was top-billed as Rocky Nelson, an NYPD detective who works for a private security firm while trying to launch an acting career. The series, co-created by Glen A. Larson (Battlestar Galactica), paired Pesci with former football greats Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith as security team members, Saturday Night Live alum Victoria Jackson in scatterbrained secretary/romantic interest mode, and a visibly unwell Dean Martin as himself. At the time of its release, critic David Handler described Half Nelson (via Television Obscurities) as '[managing] to leave you feeling both bored and soiled,' which undoubtedly helped capsize the series after just seven episodes.

Anything but super

Joe Pesci's Oscar win for his work in Goodfellas helped to wipe away any residue from Half Nelson or his other early obscurities, and it's likely that he saw the win as the start of a new and improved phase of his career. 'I love to star in movies,' he told the New York Times in 1992. 'But I want to have good roles. It doesn't help to get starring roles in something that's no good. I mean, that will just kill you.' And for the most part, that's exactly what happened to Pesci during the 1990s.

Though he netted major box office hits with Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny, and the Lethal Weapon films, much of his output during the 1990s was dismissed by critics and audiences alike. Attempts to fashion him as a comedic leading man in The Super (1991) and Gone Fishin' (1997) were busts, as were dramatic turns in the terminally soggy With Honors (1994), which cast him as a homeless man with a big heart and a scholar's brain. He even dabbled in fantasy, playing a cartoonish mobster in the surreal Michael Jackson music project Moonwalker. By 1998, Pesci had clearly lost his patience with the industry: after logging his third and final turn as machine gun-mouthed Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 4 — which earned him a Razzie nomination — he retired from acting as a full-time profession and focused his energies elsewhere.

Little Joe sure is back!

For much of the new millennium, Joe Pesci stuck to his decision to put acting on the back burner. There were offers — he was courted by HBO for the ill-fated racing drama series Luck, but as he told Empire in 2012, 'I'm not looking for a job.' He instead focused his energies on golf and, to the surprise of many, his first love: singing. In 1998, Pesci released Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You, his second album and first new recording in three decades. This being a Pesci project, the album is eccentric, to say the least: the title name checks his Cousin Vinny character and features an ill-advised pass at hip-hop with the single 'Wise Guy.' But again, Pesci proves that he knows his way around standards and club tunes with his renditions of 'What a Wonderful World,' the jazz standard 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love,' and a bawdy version of the Ray Charles number 'I've Got News For You.'

Critics and listeners alike weren't sure if Sings was comedy, pop, or jazz, and largely dismissed the effort as a vanity project. But Pesci kept his hand in music, though subsequent releases dropped any pretense of humor. As 'Joe Doggs,' he earned respectable reviews for Falling in Love Again, a collaboration with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, and held his own with his idol, Little Jimmy Scott, on 'The Folks Who Live on the Hill,' a stately duet featured on the legendary vocalist's final studio album, I Go Back Home, in 2017. Two years later, Pesci would release his third album to date, Still Singing, which featured two duets with Maroon 5's Adam Levine, of all people.

A made man?

In a 2016 interview with Milwaukee magazine, comedy legend Don Rickles, who appeared with Pesci in Casino, said of his co-star, 'I think sometimes he believed he was with the Mob. But he got over it.' Given Pesci's terrifying performances as gangsters, it's understandable how some might misconstrue him as a made man. And while there are stories of the actor interacting with organized crime elements — according to Ray Liotta, the 'Am I a clown?' exchange from Goodfellas is reportedly based on a real exchange between Pesci and an actual gangster — he's kept himself out of trouble offscreen. Well, for the most part.

Poker face youtube. In 2006, Pesci was involved in an alleged assault against an overzealous fan in Florida; according to a police report, he struck a man who ignored his request to refrain from taking his picture. Prosecutors dismissed the allegations over a lack of evidence. A half-decade later, Pesci was involved in not one but two legal cases: the first, in 2012, involved his second ex-wife, actress/model Claudia Haro, who was sentenced to 12 years for allegedly hiring a hitman to rub out her second husband, stuntman Garrett Warren. Pesci was briefly considered as the supposed source of financing for the failed hit, though the allegations were eventually dismissed. The following year, Pesci was awarded an unspecified court settlement from Fiore Pictures after he sued the company for allegedly reducing his salary and role in what would become the 2018 biopic Gotti with John Travolta.

In 2020, Pesci was part of a neighborhood squabble near his home on the Jersey Shore over two property owners' application to extend the docks on their waterfront homes. Pesci lodged a complaint with environmental protection officials, who firmly but politely requested denial of the proposed extension.

So who is this Pesci guy, anyway?

There's no question that Joe Pesci is a complicated individual. Even he's noted as much: in an interview with the Baltimore Sun (via Complex), he recalled feeling what could be described as an existential crisis while playing a game of his beloved golf. 'I didn't know who the hell was about to hit that golf ball,' he said. 'Was it Leo Getz or David Ferry or Tommy or Harry or Joe? I've spent so much time as somebody else, and so little time as myself, I lost sight of who I was for an instant.'

Pesci is an enormously talented actor, and if his quietly menacing performance in The Irishman is any indication, one still capable of mesmerizing audiences. But he seems to prefer to distance himself from acting and instead focus on other outlets that appear to have a greater hold on his heart, including singing and tending to his own personal well-being. And if acting has left him feeling misunderstood, misrepresented, and even left him unsure of who he really is, it's understandable that he's chosen to step away from it. So what's the untold truth of Joe Pesci? He has his world, and we have ours. And given the choice, Joe Pesci would seem to prefer to remain the enigma, the mystery, and the riddle, all wrapped in one.

The House is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Andrew J. Cohen, and co-written by Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. The film stars Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Simpkins, Nick Kroll, Allison Tolman, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins, and Jeremy Renner, and follows a couple who open an underground casino in their friend's house in order to pay for their daughter's college tuition.

Principal photography began on September 14, 2015 in Los Angeles. The film was released on June 30, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures, received negative reviews from critics^[3] and grossed $34 million worldwide against its $40 million budget.

Plot[edit]

During their visit to Bucknell University, husband and wife Scott (Ferrell) and Kate Johansen (Poehler) warn their daughter of the dangers of being in college. Alex (Simpkins) acknowledges her parents' warnings and expresses her interest in attending the same university her parents went to. Alex gets accepted to the university, which the Johansens expect to be funded by their community's scholarship program.

Unfortunately, during a community town hall meeting, city councilor Bob Schaeffer (Kroll) announces that they will not be doing the scholarship program, in favor of building a community pool, to which everyone agrees except the Johansens. The couple tries to find funding through asking for a loan, a salary raise for Scott, and getting Kate's job back, but everything is denied. They reluctantly agree to accompany their friend and neighbor, Frank Theodorakis (Mantzoukas), whose wife Raina (Watkins) is divorcing him over his gambling and porn addiction, to a previously-planned trip to Las Vegas. After numerous wins playing craps they lose their winnings after Scott jinxes the table by telling Frank not to roll a seven.

Back home, Frank convinces the Johansens to start an underground casino at his house to raise money for Alex's tuition and to help him get his wife back. The casino operation proves to be running smoothly as they gain more customers. In another community town-hall meeting, city councilor Bob becomes suspicious at the low attendance and suspends the meeting to launch an investigation. Back to the Johansens' casino, Frank discovers that one of the gamblers, Carl (Zissis), is counting cards. The Johansens and Frank confront him, but he brags that he works for mob boss Tommy Papouli (Renner). Scott accidentally chops off Carl's middle finger, earning him the nickname 'The Butcher', making the community afraid of him, which inadvertently increases their profits.

Several thousand dollars away from reaching their goal, they are caught by Bob and officer Chandler (Huebel), who confiscate their money and order them to close down the casino. Nonetheless, they continue their business. The house burns down after being invaded by Tommy Papouli, whom the Johansens accidentally set on fire. Having admitted their plot to Alex, they team up with officer Chandler, who had let them loose, to steal the money back from Bob. Officer Chandler convinces Bob that the three still continued the casino even after he had ordered them to stop and shows a video of the people mocking him. Bob asks Officer Chandler to go with him to arrest the Johansens at the casino, which gives the Johansens the chance to steal their money back. Dawn (Tolman) alerts Bob that the Johansens are in the town hall, which convinces Bob to go back. Bob tries to make Officer Chandler drive faster, but gets into an accident himself. Bob runs back on foot to the town hall to find the Johansens with the money. After chasing the Johansens, Bob reveals his personal interest with the casino money as well as his plot to steal money from the city budget for himself and Dawn, who leaves him and returns to her husband Joe (Scovel). Bob is arrested, while Scott and Kate use the money they took back from him to pay for their daughter's college tuition.

Cast[edit]

• Will Ferrell as Scott Johansen
• Amy Poehler as Kate Johansen, Scott's wife
• Jason Mantzoukas as Frank Theodorakis, Kate and Scott's best friend
• Ryan Simpkins as Alex Johansen, Scott and Kate's daughter
• Nick Kroll as Bob Schaeffer, a crooked City Hall councilman
• Allison Tolman as Dawn Mayweather, the City's treasurer and Bob's lover.
• Rob Huebel as Police Officer Chandler
• Michaela Watkins as Raina Theodorakis, Frank's ex-wife
• Jeremy Renner as Tommy Papouli, a local mafia boss
• Cedric Yarbrough as Reggie Henderson
• Rory Scovel as Joe Mayweather, Dawn's husband who retired at 30.
• Lennon Parham as Martha
• Andrea Savage as Laura
• Andy Buckley as Craig
• Kyle Kinane as Kevin Garvey
• Steve Zissis as Carl Shackler, a henchman of Tommy Papouli
• Sam Richardson as Marty
• Randall Park as Buckler
• Jessica St. Clair as Reba
• Alexandra Daddario as Corsica
• Jessie Ennis as Rachel
• Gillian Vigman as Becky
• Wayne Federman as Chip Dave
• Sebastian Maniscalco as Stand-Up Comic
• Linda Porter as Old Lady
• Ian Roberts as Driver at College Campus
• Bruna Rubio as Stripper

Production[edit]

On February 25, 2015, it was announced that New Line Cinema had won an auction for the comedy script The House, written by Brendan O'Brien and Andrew J. Cohen, and that Cohen would make his directorial debut with the film.^[5]Will Ferrell would star as a husband who teams up with his wife and neighbors to start an illegal casino in his basement, to earn money, after their daughter's college scholarship is lost.^[5] Ferrell and Adam McKay produced through Gary Sanchez Productions, along with Good Universe and O'Brien.^[5][6]Amy Poehler joined the cast on June 12, 2015, to play Ferrell's character's wife.^[6] On June 16, 2015, Jason Mantzoukas joined to play Ferrell's character's best friend, who is dealing with a gambling problem, and who gives the couple the idea to start a casino.^[7] On August 28, 2015, Ryan Simpkins was added to the cast, to play Ferrell and Poehler's characters' daughter.^[8] On September 15, 2015, Cedric Yarbrough signed on to play Reggie Henderson, a hardworking suburban resident who starts gambling in the new casino to de-stress.^[9] Frank Gerrish also joined the film.^[9] On September 18, 2015, Rob Huebel was added to the cast,^[10] and on September 21, 2015, Allison Tolman and Michaela Watkins were added to the cast, with Tolman playing a financial advisor, and Watkins playing Mantzoukas' character's wife, who wants him to sign divorce papers. Nick Kroll also joined the cast.^[11]Mariah Carey was supposed to have a cameo in the film, but had what co-star Rob Huebel called 'multiple unrealistic demands'.^[12]

Cool poker tables. Principal photography on the film began on September 14, 2015, in Los Angeles.^[13]

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is credited as executive producer.

Release[edit]

The House was released on June 30, 2017,^[14] by Warner Bros. Pictures. The original date was June 2, 2017.^[15]

Box office[edit]

The House grossed $25.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $8.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $34.2 million, against a production budget of $40 million.^[4]

In North America, The House opened alongside Despicable Me 3 and Baby Driver, as well as the wide expansion of The Beguiled, and was projected to gross $10–14 million from 3,134 theaters in its opening weekend.^[16] The film made $3.4 million on its first day (including $800,000 from Thursday night previews). It went on to open to $8.7 million, marking the lowest studio debut of Ferrell's career as a lead actor.^[3] In its second weekend the film made $4.8 million (a drop of 45.2%), finishing 7th at the box office.^[17]

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Critical response[edit]

On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on 81 reviews, and has an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, 'The House squanders a decent premise and a talented cast on thin characterizations and a shortage of comic momentum.'^[18] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating 'generally unfavorable reviews'.^[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'B−' on an A+ to F scale.^[3]

Accolades[edit]

References[edit]

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1. ^ ^abcdDeFore, John (June 29, 2017). ''The House': Film Review'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
2. ^'The House'. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
3. ^ ^abcd''Baby Driver' Speeds to $27M+; Ferrell & Poehler's 'House' Burns Down as 'Despicable Me 3' Dominates'. Deadline Hollywood. July 2, 2017.
4. ^ ^ab'The House (2017)'. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
5. ^ ^abcFleming Jr, Mike (February 25, 2015). 'New Line Wins Auction For 'The House'; Will Ferrell To Star In Script By 'Neighbors' Duo'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
6. ^ ^abKroll, Justin (June 12, 2015). 'Amy Poehler to Co-Star With Will Ferrell in New Line's 'The House''. variety.com. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
7. ^Kit, Borys (June 16, 2015). 'Jason Mantzoukas Joining Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler in 'The House''. hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
8. ^A. Lincoln, Ross (August 28, 2015). 'Ryan Simpkins Joins 'The House' With Will Ferrell And Amy Poehler'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
9. ^ ^abPedersen, Erik (September 15, 2015). 'Cedric Yarbrough Gambles On Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler Home-Casino Comedy'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
10. ^A. Lincoln, Ross (September 18, 2015). 'Rob Huebel Joins Untitled Will Ferrell-Amy Poelher Casino Comedy'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
11. ^A. Lincoln, Ross (September 21, 2015). 'Allison Tolman, Michaela Watkins Join Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler Comedy; LBJ Packs Cast As Production Starts'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
12. ^'Mariah Carey called out by The House costar for set behavior: 'It did not go well''. Entertainment Weekly. May 24, 2017.
13. ^'On the Set for 9/18/15: Rian Johnson Calls Action on Star Wars: Episode 8, Ghostbusters & The Magnificent Seven Wrap'. ssninsider.com. September 18, 2015. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
14. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 8, 2016). 'Warner Bros. Shifts Release Dates For 'The Accountant', 'Going In Style' & 'The House''. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
15. ^McNary, Dave (November 12, 2015). 'Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler Comedy 'The House' Set for June, 2017'. Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
16. ^''Despicable Me 3' To Own Crowded Independence Day Weekend Stretch – Box Office Preview'. Deadline Hollywood. June 27, 2017.
17. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 10, 2017). ''Spider-Man: Homecoming' Still Swinging In As Sony's Second Best Domestic Opening Ever With $116M-$118M'. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
18. ^'The House (2017)'. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
19. ^'The House reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

External links[edit]

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• Official website
• The House on IMDb

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