Two Family House

"The only way to find out what you love is to risk everything you have."

Oct 27 2000 R 1h 48m
Comedy, Drama, Romance

Buddy Visalo (Michael Rispoli) is a factory worker, a frustrated crooner who once had a shot at the big time. Buddy's dreams of greatness have been reduced to an endless series of failed moneymaking schemes. His latest is buying a two-family house for him and his wife, Estelle (Katherine Narducci) and converting the ground floor into a neighborhood bar where he can perform. The wrench in the works is that he also inherits the upstairs tenants, Mary,a pregnant Irish girl fresh off the boat (Kelly Macdonald) and her abusive, alcoholic husband, Jim (Kevin Conway). As Buddy's gang of Italians tries to handle the situation, the girl goes into labor, and a baby is born, forcing them all to confront the limits of their tolerance and compassion.

Official Trailer
Plot

An unseen narrator looks back to 1956, on Staten Island, when Buddy, an Italian guy with big dreams, buys a house planning to live upstairs with his wife Estelle and run a bar downstairs. The first problem is Estelle's lack of confidence in Buddy. Then, Irish tenants upstairs refuse to move and won't pay rent; plus, the woman upstairs is about to have a baby. The next problem is the baby: once he's born, it's clear his father was Black. The Irish guy splits; Buddy evicts mother and child, then feels guilt and sets her up in a flat while she sorts out an adoption. Estelle's lack of faith, the Irish lass's spirit, Buddy's dream, racial prejudice, and the baby's fate play out.

Written by

Raymond De Felitta

Directed by

Raymond De Felitta

Cast

Michael Rispoli, Kelly Macdonald, Kathrine Narducci

Crew

View crew

Awards

3 wins & 4 nominations

Trailers
Two Family House - Trailer
Scores
# of Votes
1,756
Average Rating
7.2 out of 10
Metascore
79
Popularity
NA