Buffalo '66 (1998)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Vincent Gallo

Writers:

Vincent Gallo (story)
Vincent Gallo (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 June 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Billy Brown just got out of jail. Now he's going to serve some real time. He's going home.

Plot:

Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her...

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Prison | Kidnapping | Bookie | Dog

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Vincent Gallo	...	Billy Brown
Christina Ricci	...	Layla
Ben Gazzara	...	Jimmy Brown
Mickey Rourke	...	The Bookie
Rosanna Arquette	...	Wendy Balsam
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Sonny
Anjelica Huston	...	Jan Brown
Kevin Pollak	...	TV Sportscaster
Alex Karras	...	TV Sportscaster
John Sansone	...	Little Billy
Manny Fried	...	The Donut Clerk
John Rummel	...	Don Shanks
Bob Wahl	...	Scott Woods
Penny Wolfgang	...	The Judge
Anthony Mydcarz	...	The Motel Clerk

MPAA:

Rated R for language, strong violent images and scenes involving nudity.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Germany:12 | Australia:MA | France:U | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Buffalo, New York, USA

Company:

Cinépix Film Properties (CFP)

Trivia:

Ben Gazzara ad-libbed the part where he shoves his face between Christina Ricci's breasts at the dinner table.

Goofs:

Continuity: The positions of the photo album and wine bottle on the dining room table at Billy's parents' house change between shots.

Quotes:

Billy Brown: Just look like we are a married couple, *spanning time*!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005)

Soundtrack:

Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)

A So-So Film (2-1/2 stars out of 4)

"Buffalo '66": Vincent Gallo's painfully comic deadpan love story about an angry ex-con (Gallo) who kidnaps a young girl (Christina Ricci) from her dance class because he needs someone to pose as his wife when he goes to visit his parents, who couldn't care less about their son. This does have its moments. The whole sequence with his parents is terrific. Ben Gazzara as Gallo's sullen father comes alive for a few minutes during a scene in which he lipsincs to a beautiful Nelson Riddle arrangement of "Fools Rush In," and Angelica Huston is amusing as his easily distracted mother, cursing the day she had to go to the hospital to have her son because it caused her to miss the one Buffalo Bills game they won. But too much of this is just hard to swallow. We learn virtually nothing about the background of the Ricci character; we haven't a clue as to why she would not only go along so readily with this pathetic creep's plan, but actually fall in love with him (low self-esteem?). Consequently, the relationship that develops between them seems contrived (she has several opportunities to escape from this lunatic, but if she did there would be no movie). Ricci plays this cipher of a character as well as anyone could and in fact is often quite charming, as in a surreal moment when she does a tap dance at the bowling alley (complete with her own spotlight). An amazingly dissipated looking Jan Michael Vincent shows up for a few minutes as the manager of the alley. Incredibly, they've kept a locker reserved for Gallo, even though he has been in jail for five years!