Produced by Tony Glazer, Summer Crockett Moore
Written and Directed by Anthony Tarsitano
Starring Ralph Macchio, Gina Gershon,
David Zayas, Jeff Kober, Paul Sorvino,
Summer Crockett Moore, Tom Wopat,
Sean Young, Anthony Ruivivar
Ralph Macchio (who still looks young for his age) does a fine job as a lifelong timid guy who married his high school sweetheart, a woman who obviously loves him but definitely – and with great zeal — wears the pants in the relationship.
When her beloved cat gets out and goes missing, she flat-out demands that Macchio scour the neighborhood until he finds the critter.
This quest leads to plenty of unforeseen confrontations and adventures that causes Macchio to examine his past choices and current temperament.
Lost Cat Corona is an entertaining comedy/drama that follows several parallel storylines that eventually interconnect.
The film begins with Macchio and best friend Ponce (familiar character actor David Zayas) mapping out a search plan. Hijinks and believable, funny best-friend banter ensues. Macchio and Zayas have an appealing, easy rapport here.
Macchio crosses paths with various characters throughout, including shady friend Adam Ferrara, unhinged creep Jeff Kober, his affable Uncle Sam (Paul Sorvino) and honorable veteran Tom Wopat, who has just had his Purple Heart stolen after his home was ransacked.
Meanwhile, his wife (a fun Gina Gershon) is mostly waiting at the hospital where her mother is about to have surgery, intermittently calling her husband to let him know that he damned well better find her cat.
The feel of Lost Cat Corona was oddly nostalgic to me. Back in the nineties, I reviewed hundreds of films for the TLA Video Guide and website, and it seemed every third movie I watched was an indie comedy/drama that involved a protagonist thrown into a quest that found him or her unwillingly involved in at least one criminal act and running into a stew of quirky characters.
Lost Cat Corona would fit squarely in with this subgenre, and is actually better than most of them. It ain’t perfect; some vignettes are stronger than others, and it goes slack here and there.
But the excellent cast is uniformly good and seems to be having fun. Sean Young is a hoot in a small role (she’s also loads of fun in the very worthwhile recent indie Future ’38), and Macchio seems to be relishing a lead role, but everyone does a fine job.
Nothing to write home about but nothing to sneeze at, either, Lost Cat Corona sets out to entertain, and it does just that.
Lost Cat Corona is now playing in limited release and
is also available on VOD and HD Digital.
