King of the Corner - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution movie review

'King of the Corner' stirs up the cleverness, but still ambles

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Middle-aged market researcher Leo Spivak (Peter Riegert), the protagonist of the modestly entertaining "King of the Corner," is certainly no lion. He lives a vaguely dissatisfied life, with a backstabbing underling at work (Jake Hoffman, son of Dustin); a skittish wife (Isabella Rossellini, looking worn) and slightly rebellious daughter at home; and an elderly father, Sol (Eli Wallach), in an Arizona retirement home. A querulous widower, Sol isn't shy about guilt-tripping his son, A typical assertion: Living in a nursing facility is like being buried alive.

Elevation Filmworks

'King of the Corner'

C+

The verdict: Actor-director Peter Riegert is a great guy to have in your corner, but his movie isn't always up to his level.

Director: Peter Riegert
Starring: Peter Riegert, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Albano, Eric Bogosian, Ashley Johnson, Eli Wallach
Run time: 93 minutes
Release date: April 3, 2005
Rating: R for some language and sexual references.

On the web
Official movie site

Riegert, who here makes his directing and co-writing debut, will probably always be remembered as the fine pickle man who courted Amy Irving in "Crossing Delancey" or one of the frat guys in "Animal House." He's remained a consistent, immensely gifted, albeit unassuming, actor and his movie reflects some of those qualities, for better and worse.

Based on a short story collection called "Bad Jews and Other Stories" by co-scripter Gerald Shapiro, "King of the Corner" ambles modestly from one plot thread to another. Unfortunately, as is often true of these kinds of movies, some threads are a lot more compelling than others.

The aging Boomer/young Turk in-the-workplace theme plays out well, better than it did in the overpraised "In Good Company." And the focus-group tests — one is for a voice-altering telephone device that makes little old home-alone ladies sound like Gregory Peck — are often quite funny. But an afternoon delight with a former high school lust object (Beverly D'Angelo, three times the size she was as Patsy Cline in "Coal Miner's Daughter") makes little sense and comes off as an artificial attempt to pump up Leo's problems.

At its best, the movie is about heart — especially how Leo recovers his ... and acting. Wallach packs a wallop as the petulant patriarch who will not go gently into that good night, and Eric Bogosian gives an antic performance in the small role of a rabbi-for-hire who likes to plan his eulogies at the dog track. Plus, the ever-reliable Riegert charts the lukewarm waters of a kinda-sorta midlife crisis with nuance and smarts.

Still, by the end, "King of the Corner" may not have you completely in its corner. There's something not quite right when you sense a movie is unraveling in front of you and you're not certain what, exactly, is coming unraveled.