Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game
Theatrical poster
Directed byHoward L. Weiner
Screenplay byHoward L. Weiner
Produced byHoward L. Weiner
Starring
CinematographyTerrence Hayes
Edited by
  • Andy Keir
  • Victoria Lesiw
Music bySteven Argila
Production
company
Long Road Film
Distributed byGravitas Features
Release date
  • April 24, 2017 (2017-04-24) (Tribeca Film Festival)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Howard L. Weiner and starring Martin Landau, Paul Sorvino and Maria Dizzia. It is about a character named Dr. Abe Mandelbaum, played by Landau, who is placed in a retirement home while incapable of managing his wife's decaying health.

It was the first feature film by Weiner, a neurologist. It debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, before Landau's death in July 2017. It received mixed reviews, with some positive assessments of Landau's performance.

Cast

  • Martin Landau as Dr. Abe Mandelbaum
  • Paul Sorvino as Phil Nicoletti
  • Maria Dizzia as Angela Donadio
  • Ann Marie Shea as Molly Mandelbaum
  • Pamela Dubin as Sheryl
  • Alexander Cook as Richard Grollman
  • Lyralen Kaye as Sister Elizabeth

Production

Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game was the first feature film written and directed by Professor Howard L. Weiner, a neurologist. Weiner stated that in medical school, he made his own music videos about The Beatles, and viewed cinema as another medium to pursue truth.[1] He forwarded the screenplay to an Emerson College cinema instructor, who saw promise in it and gave him advice.[2]

Weiner's son, television writer Ron Weiner, contacted producers and had some scenes shot in Los Angeles. It was filmed over five weeks.[2] Howard Weiner also produced it for Premiere Entertainment.[3]

Landau chose to take the role, saying "It was unusual, and it kept unfolding in unpredictable ways".[1]

Release

The film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival under the title The Last Poker Game, the only directorial and writing debut of a septuagenarian at Tribeca that year.[1] Martin Landau attended the spring festival, for his last film released before he died in July 2017.[4] A trailer was published in November 2017 ahead of the January 12, 2018 theatrical and video-on-demand release.[5]

Reception

As of February 18, 2018 the film has a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews.[6] Metacritic also gave it a score of 48, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

Pete Hammond, writing for Deadline Hollywood, assessed it as "not only a touching, funny, quite raunchy (especially in its depiction of senior sex) dramedy, it is exceptionally well made".[2] Variety critic Joe Leydon assessed it as "low-key and deeply felt", and hailed Landau for his best performance since 1994's Ed Wood, commenting Landau's death could also influence viewers' perspectives on him playing a character close to death.[8] Ben Kenigsberg in The New York Times criticized it for "flat direction", adding Weiner at least incorporated his medical expertise, "however awkwardly presented".[9] The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore called it "tepid" but said Landau "delivers with dignity in an uplift-oriented project".[10] In the Los Angeles Times, Michael Rechtshaffen judged Landau "effective" but said the film was on "a wobbly line between melancholic and mawkish".[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grobar, Matt (April 28, 2017). "'The Last Poker Game' Star Martin Landau On Ageism In Hollywood And Roles He Is Happy To Turn Down — Tribeca Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Hammond, Pete (April 24, 2017). "An Oscar Winner & A 72-Year-Old Neurologist-Turned-Filmmaker Combine For Festival's Most Unique Movie – Tribeca". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (May 21, 2017). "Premiere plays Tribeca title 'The Last Poker Game' with Martin Landau and Paul Sorvino". Screen Daily. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ Blas, Lorena (July 16, 2017). "Veteran actor Martin Landau dead at 89". USA Today. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  5. ↑ Truitt, Brian (July 16, 2017). "See Martin Landau's final role in exclusive trailer for 'Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game'". USA Today. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ "ABE & PHIL'S LAST POKER GAME (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game 2018". Metacritic. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  8. ↑ Leydon, Joe (January 12, 2018). "Film Review: 'Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game'". Variety. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ Kenigsberg, Ben (January 11, 2018). "Review: Martin Landau and Paul Sorvino in 'Abe and Phil's Last Poker Game'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ DeFore, John (January 12, 2018). "'Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ Rechtshaffen, Michael (January 11, 2018). "Martin Landau's last role gets lost in suds of soapy 'Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 17, 2018.


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