Strictly Sinatra
Encyclopedia
Strictly Sinatra is a 2001
British
drama film
directed by Peter Capaldi
. The film was released in the UK in 2001 by Focus Features
and stars Ian Hart
, Kelly Macdonald
, and Brian Cox.
and the dream of becoming a hugely famous musician. He grows weary of playing to elderly crowds in third rate bars and decides to accept career help from mob boss Chisolm (Brian Cox) whose wife (Una McLean) has taken a liking to Toni. In exchange for assisting the organization with their illegal activities, Chisholm pays for new clothes for Toni and pressures the producer of a talent show to allow Toni to compete in the contest. Meanwhile, he tries to keep his ties with the mob secret from his friend and accompanist Bill (Alun Armstrong) and pretty cigarette girl Irene (Kelly Macdonald) who he has fallen for. The trio form a modern day Rat Pack
with Irene as Shirley McLaine. Eventually his luck runs out. While he is helping to rob a store, Toni misses a date with Irene and she and Bill discover that he is leading a double life. They beg him not to compete in the talent show as he will be forever indebted to Chisholm, but he goes anyway. He only places fifth and continues his career singing in lounges, but is deeply unhappy. One day while making a drug drop the drugs he is carrying are stolen by a street kid. Toni refuses to harm the street kid, thus making him a target for the mob hitmen. He performs one last time at a birthday bash for Chisholm's wife, fully expecting to be killed after he finishes his number. Bill rescues him by creating a distraction which gives him a chance to get away with Irene. Using assumed names, the two manage to evade the mobsters and escape to New York City
.
wrote, "Aside from good singin' and the always engaging Kelly Macdonald (as a cigarette girl who becomes Cocozza's girlfriend), there's just not much movie here. The BBC
's Jamie Russell shared similar sentiments: "Lacking the scope or ambition that a feature film deserves, this could have made a passable TV drama, but on the big screen it's simply pointless. Not even the talented cast, which includes Ian Hart in the lead and the ever-reliable Brian Cox as one of the main gangsters, can enliven proceedings."
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi is an Academy Award and BAFTA award winning Scottish actor and film director. In 1995, his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...
. The film was released in the UK in 2001 by Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
and stars Ian Hart
Ian Hart
Ian Hart is an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:Hart, the grandson of Irish immigrants, was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He is one of three siblings and was brought up in a Roman Catholic family...
, Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
, and Brian Cox.
Synopsis
The film is about a young Glaswegian-Italian lounge singer, Toni Cocozza (Ian Hart), with a passion for Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and the dream of becoming a hugely famous musician. He grows weary of playing to elderly crowds in third rate bars and decides to accept career help from mob boss Chisolm (Brian Cox) whose wife (Una McLean) has taken a liking to Toni. In exchange for assisting the organization with their illegal activities, Chisholm pays for new clothes for Toni and pressures the producer of a talent show to allow Toni to compete in the contest. Meanwhile, he tries to keep his ties with the mob secret from his friend and accompanist Bill (Alun Armstrong) and pretty cigarette girl Irene (Kelly Macdonald) who he has fallen for. The trio form a modern day Rat Pack
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
with Irene as Shirley McLaine. Eventually his luck runs out. While he is helping to rob a store, Toni misses a date with Irene and she and Bill discover that he is leading a double life. They beg him not to compete in the talent show as he will be forever indebted to Chisholm, but he goes anyway. He only places fifth and continues his career singing in lounges, but is deeply unhappy. One day while making a drug drop the drugs he is carrying are stolen by a street kid. Toni refuses to harm the street kid, thus making him a target for the mob hitmen. He performs one last time at a birthday bash for Chisholm's wife, fully expecting to be killed after he finishes his number. Bill rescues him by creating a distraction which gives him a chance to get away with Irene. Using assumed names, the two manage to evade the mobsters and escape to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Cast
- Ian HartIan HartIan Hart is an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:Hart, the grandson of Irish immigrants, was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He is one of three siblings and was brought up in a Roman Catholic family...
as Toni Cocozza - Kelly MacdonaldKelly MacdonaldKelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
as Irene - Brian Cox as Chisolm
- Alun ArmstrongAlun Armstrong (actor)Alun Armstrong is a prolific British character actor. Armstrong grew up in County Durham in North East England. He first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of...
as Bill - Tommy FlanaganTommy FlanaganThomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald...
as Michaelangelo - Iain CuthbertsonIain CuthbertsonIain Cuthbertson was a Scottish character actor. At 6' 4", he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive "gravelly" heavily accented voice.-Early life:...
as Connolly - Una McLeanUna McLeanUna McLean MBE is a Scottish actress and comedienne, best known for appearing in pantomimes. She was married to Scottish stage and film actor Russell Hunter from 1991 until his death in 2004....
as Dainty - Jimmy Chisholm as Kenny
- Jimmy YuillJimmy YuillJimmy Yuill is an actor, born in 1959, in Golspie, Scotland.He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and later joined the Renaissance Theatre Company. He has appeared in many of Kenneth Branagh's films, most recently as Corin in the 2006 As You Like It...
as Rod Edmunds - Richard E. GrantRichard E. GrantRichard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
as Himself - Jimmy TarbuckJimmy TarbuckJimmy Tarbuck OBE or Tarby is an English comedian. Growing up he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.His first television show was It's Tarbuck 65! on ITV in 1964. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game...
as Himself - Stewart Ennis as Doorman
- Paul Doonan as Nicol
- Anne LaceyAnne LaceyAnne Lacey is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, made-for-television movies, and film shorts since 1986. Her longest appearance run to date has been in 20 episodes of the TV series Hamish Macbeth from 1995-1997 as schoolteacher Esme Murray.She trained in Scotland, France and...
as Coat check girl - Alex Howden as Kojak
- Douglas Eadie as Hard man
- Jami Ferreira as Drowned rat
- Brian McDermottBrian McDermottBrian G. McDermott is an English professional rugby league football coach and former player. He started as Head Coach of Harlequins RL of Super League on 8 July 2006 and departs on 4 September 2010.-Biography:...
as Youth In Supermarker - Alex McAvoyAlex McAvoyAlex McAvoy was a Scottish actor, known for his role as Sunny Jim in the BBC Scotland adaptation of Neil Munro's Para Handy stories, The Vital Spark....
as Aldo - Pauline Lockhart as Big T assistant
- Billy McCollBilly McCollWilliam Christopher McColl, known as Billy McColl, is a Scottish former footballer.- Playing career :A product of the renowned Glasgow youth team Drumchapel Amateurs, McColl began his senior career with Clydebank, and was a member of the squad that won the inaugural Second Division title in 1975-76...
as John, the watchman - Iain FraserIain FraserIain Fraser is a former professional soccer player.Fraser is known as one of the first players drafted by Major League Soccer upon its creation, as well as for his role in a court case against the league...
as Joe, the bartender - Calum Beaton as Boy on stairs
- Lisa Stuart as Casino Girl
Critical reception
The film received less than stellar reviews from critics upon its release, despite the well-regarded cast. Filmcritic.com's Christopher NullChristopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
wrote, "Aside from good singin' and the always engaging Kelly Macdonald (as a cigarette girl who becomes Cocozza's girlfriend), there's just not much movie here. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Jamie Russell shared similar sentiments: "Lacking the scope or ambition that a feature film deserves, this could have made a passable TV drama, but on the big screen it's simply pointless. Not even the talented cast, which includes Ian Hart in the lead and the ever-reliable Brian Cox as one of the main gangsters, can enliven proceedings."