This is an amusing comedy about how many neighborhoods use to be in NYC. Although there are many stereotypes, much of the characters and atmosphere rings true. People seeing this film back in the early 1990s still had many reasons to fear NYC. Having resided all my life in NYC I know what the movie is trying to show here. Many neighborhoods in Manhatten, as well as the adjacent boroughs were mostly slums in the 1970s, 80s and well into the early 90s. A variety of circumstances over the years had placed low income people into cheap housing with repacious landlords. The end result were horrific ghettos which were virtual war zones to live in.



The ironic thing today in watching this film is how we have traded in the urban ghetto for Starbucks! NYC rents were affordable when there was a bit of a seedy element around. The buildings shown in this film today would be lauded as a pre-war luxury apartments with Joe Pesci's place going for millions! NYC may be a safer place to live, but who can afford to live here now!



The film shows in a funny way the noises and atmosphere of what ghetto neighborhoods were like. There were places like Bed Sty, East New York, and the South Bronx etc., that brought shudders to any New Yorker when their names were mentioned in the news! Having lived through those times, I know the kind of people and circumstances which were involved, and while I would never want NYC to return to those days, at the same time one hates to see their own city become a heaven for the jet-set, wine and cheese crowd! Surely there must be some kind of compromise that could work for NYC in the future.



This film provides a rare, vintage look of a time not so long ago in the city's history. While exaggerated and funny, most of what's shown here is pretty accurate. Let THE SUPER be an example of what most landlords are in NYC, as well as many other cities. The times may have changed, but all the ingredients are still there to make things the same all over again.

The movie was delivered in a timely manner. The DVD works just fine...like new. I'm very satisfied with the product, Thanks!

This movie with Joe Pesci is great. He has great comedy talents and plays a great part of a rich kid who can't get himself out of a tight spot, owning a decrepid building that has residents living there. It's a great story of a bad guy coming good, and learning about friendship and what home really is. I think the best part of the movie is, when he is sitting on the old mattresses and he hears the music playing downstairs and he is playing with a ball attached to a bat and he is playing it so hard and not wanting to go down to the apartment playing the music, that the ball becomes detached from the bat and he then pretends to be doing a crossword puzzle. Then of course he gets invited down to the party. Great funny, lighthearted movie.

This is a great classic from the early 90's as Joe Pesci's popularity was rising (after the leathal weapons 2 and 3). Joe plays Louie Kritski, son of Big Lou Kritski, owner of 27 slum buildings. As a birthday gift, Big Lou gave Louie his own building. With this, came all of the building violations. Mandolyn smith osbourne plays Naomi, a new lawyer for the housing athourity, and someone Louie would "like to get to know". Well, Karma caught Louie quick as his tenents and Naomi sucessfully prosecuted him for the violations and he is sentenced to 120 days in a 5th floor apartment of his building. No repairs to his appartment can occur unless the rest of the building is fixed as well. The movie takes off from here, Pesci, use to money and comforts, has a hard time adapting to the harsh environment. His Tennents, on the other hand, have a little fun with Pesci, taking him as a sucker a few times as well as parting his prized correvette out. In the end, Pesci has a change of heart, and stands up to his dad as his own man with his own plan. He turns out to be a nicer guy. Unfortunately, the movie ends pretty quickly, Almost rushed, but still ok. Gotta laugh as he drives away in his Corvette, or is it? Again, a former staple of cable stations like TBS, USA, And WGN, this movie is worth a viewing, and a good classic for the collection.

I have always gotten a kick out of Joe Pesci; one of the best actors of comedy in the 1990's. With that quirky, whiny voice and that funny little walk, Pesci is one of those unique comedians who adds just the right touch of humor to his character. Pesci is no different in 1991's "The Super," an absolutely hilarious film from beginning to end, with emotional touches underlying the film. Though a tremendously funny film, it also touches on the reality of the inner city and the conditions that many people have to live in. Most of all, it gets to the heart in that the film shows that you may live in a place you hate and are around people you may despise, but when difficult times come up, you realize how important they are to you. You grow to have respect for people and places you may not have had respect for in the past. You live in certain situations long enough to where you feel a part of it and want to protect it. All these things happen in life frequently and it is wonderfully portrayed in "The Super." After only a few viewings, "The Super" has become an instant comedy classic with my family and me. It has got to be one of the most underrated comedy films around.

It is the apartment complex everyone dreams about. With an awesome view of the scummy streets of New York, filthy toilets and sinks that overflow in disgusting liquid, heating that won't work and electricity that shorts out, what more could one ask for? Why should the residents complain of being cold, the smell of urine in the hallways, rats in the rooms and doors that won't open or close as needed? After all, this place is a charmer!

Meet Louis Kritski (played by Joe Pesci), the pint-sized son of a rich and mean slumlord. Louis is a swift-talking wise guy, who walks like a miniature ape and is under the delusion that he can impress the ladies. Louis was fortunate enough to inherit his father's "wonderful" complex as a birthday present. It is all his to do nothing with, while all the while greedily grabbing up the rent money from all the residents. Ever since he was a boy, Kritski's no-good father (played by Vincent Gardenia) always told him that when you own a piece of property you do nothing with it because if you give an inch, they'll take a mile. Therefore, Kritski's father forbids him to be merciful to the needy residents in the complex.

Unfortunately, Louis's neglect of the building and it's people leads him straight to court where he is ordered to live in one of the apartments until he gets the complex up to code. Now Louis is having hands-on experience of what the residents are going through. His sink "burps," his toilet is flowing over with scum, the only chair in the room is falling apart and he cannot play his radio because the electrical socket doesn't work. He is living in a neighborhood where cars such as his cherry red Corvette are stripped down to nothing, convenience stores sell bread that's 500 years old, the best liquor he can get is a small bottle of cheap wine and he learns quickly how to duck from bullets. Louis deals with the constant noise of the residents from the loud music and partying, to family arguments over a bike, to angry residents pounding on his door. Needless to say, Louis could never have much of a social life under the circumstances, especially with his girlfriend.

The residents and people from the street all try to get the best of this feisty, uncaring slumlord to create some very memorable comedic scenes, from tricking Louis out of cash in a card game, to giving him false hope and taking advantage of him on the basketball court, to enticing him to join in the partying noise in the complex. The neat thing about this film is that we get a variety of people of different backgrounds. We see Louis "drop in" on a very agitated and freaked-out Hispanic family, get firm lessons from a wise talking African-American kid named Tito with a drug-dealing father and we see Louis complain of too much noise to a religious preacher who is trying to block out the rats in his apartment.

The residents of the complex and the comedic adventures and lessons Louis has with them somehow lead him to take a second look at himself and try to become a better person. But is he doing it for himself or for all of them? Actually living in the shoes of the residents in his complex may have triggered something in this heartless slumlord after all. But when Daddy-dearest steps in and threatens to do unthinkable damage to Louis's complex and the residents within it, Louis must stand up to his father in a way he has never done before and perhaps make the biggest choice of his life.

"The Super" is an all-around very entertaining and funny movie that will never leave you bored but only your sides splitting. Pesci was perfectly cast for this role as Louis, and I only wish he had made more films like this. Just looking at his facial and body expressions makes you want to laugh at times; especially when he appears in his ridiculous basketball uniform of knee high socks, sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt and attempts to egotistically take some street basketball players to school on the court. Also worth noting is the humorous scene of him dancing and partying with the residents to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This." Pesci has definitely done some of his best work in the film and it is sure to be fun-filled entertainment for all. I must also mention that the R-rating is for language; just a word of warning for those with younger kids.