Two Family House

Anyone who's ever dreamed he or she might amount to something should enjoy Raymond De Felitta's Two Family House, which is set in an Italian-American neighborhood on Staten Island during the mid-'50s but, like all simple stories, resonates beyond its particular time and place. It stars Michael Rispoli, lately of "The Sopranos," as Buddy Visalo, a guy who once had a shot as a crooner but allowed himself to be talked out of it by his safety-first wife (Katherine Narducci, also from "The Sopranos"). None of Buddy's subsequent schemes has worked out, but now he wants to convert a two-flat into an apartment upstairs and a tavern (where he can perform) downstairs. It sounds like something Ralph Kramden might cook up, but Ralph never had to deal with a beautiful young Irish tenant (Kelly Macdonald) and her half-black baby. As unpretentious as Buddy himself, Two Family House is a perfect little film, beautifully observed.