The Assistant (1997)

Synopsis: Director Daniel Petrie's powerful drama, based on Bernard Malamud's 1957 novel, is set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Gil Bellows stars as Frank Alpine, a drifter looking for work who,... Director Daniel Petrie's powerful drama, based on Bernard Malamud's 1957 novel, is set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Gil Bellows stars as Frank Alpine, a drifter looking for work who, against his better judgment, becomes friends with Ward Minogue (Jaimz Woolvett), a petty criminal who convinces Frank to help him commit a robbery. Ward targets a neighborhood grocery store, that is run by a Jewish immigrant family struggling to keep its small business afloat. Morris Bober (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the proprietor of the grocery, suffers a violent attack from Ward and Frank when they rob him at gunpoint, and Frank is overcome with remorse when Ward brutally wounds Morris while spewing anti-Semitic verbal abuse. Afterward, in an effort to redeem a guilty conscience, he stops by the store and offers to help Morris get his shop reorganized, all the while keeping his involvement in the crime a secret. Soon Frank is working side by side with Morris, who comes to view him like a son even though his wife, Ida (Joan Plowright), does not trust the secretive young man. As Frank becomes closer to the Bobers, he falls for their young daughter, Helen (Kate Greenhouse), and is desperate to keep his horrid crime a secret. This slow-paced and subtle period film is a studied tale of difference, tolerance, and, ultimately, forgiveness. Mueller-Stahl and Plowright give first-rate performances. [More]

Starring: Gil Bellows, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Joan Plowright, Kate Greenhouse

Starring: Gil Bellows, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Joan Plowright, Kate Greenhouse, Tony Mohamed, Jaimz Woolvett

Director: Daniel Petrie

Director: Daniel Petrie
Screenwriter: Daniel Petrie
Producer: Daniel Petrie, Jon Slan

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