Joe Tartaglia got the chance to direct his coming-of-age-in-South- Philly script in 1997 when an aspiring actor friend (Ronald Samuel Jacobs) transplanted in Las Vegas agreed to put up $17000 in exchange for a co-starring role in the production. Tartaglia cast mostly family members and friends and neighbors. Shooting took place over four days in locations almost exclusively within a three block area on the then mostly deserted southern stretch of Philadelphia's Ninth Street Italian Market. Although Tartaglia didn't plan it that way, Punctuality has ended up being a snapshot of the neighborhood just before immigrants and yuppies swarmed all over the area.
Punctuality stars Tartaglia's younger brother Frank as 19-year old Anthony DeMarco who wants to become a comic-book artist. His father, recently released from prison, wants him to get a "respectable" job down at the local mob hangout and arranges to have the local mobster Nicky Nuts (Tartaglia's electrician uncle Domenick in an amazing performance) employ him as errand boy. He turns out to be good at his job, and as his star rises he is torn between the Italian old school grown-up world and his peers in the more racially-integrated hip hop crowd. Ronald Samuel Jacobs plays Angelo, a thuggish John Gotti wannabe whose desperate efforts to pay a debt to Nicky Nuts cause him to cross paths with Anthony and Anthony is forced to make a life-changing decision.
Like the streets it was shot on, Punctuality is gritty. Acting sometimes is subpar although other times it's impressive. As the tagline suggests, this is Tartaglia's directing debut and sometimes it shows. The dialog is full of Italian South Philadelphia colloquialisms, and at times it is deliriously profane. The soundtrack is eclectic, including old school South Philly crooner Fabian, some impressive hip-hop freestylers, and Philadelphia punk legend Mikey Wild. The movie won audience favorite awards at several film festivals, but at 54 minutes running time and padded as it is, it didn't get picked up by distributors looking for feature length projects.
Punctuality was ahead of its time. These days, with digital video and You Tube, it could have been self-produced and self-distributed for even less money or even put online like fellow Philadelphia student film maker Maya Churi did with her feature Letters From Home Room not two years later.
As for the Tartaglias, the gentrification of their old neighborhood hasn't driven them away. They are still there on 9th Street, and many members of the cast are still living and working there too (the guy who played short-tempered gangster Big Frankie is actually a cheerful friendly guy). They've opened up a theatre in their mother's old storefront, where they showcase local talent. If you catch him in between booking acts, Joe Tartaglia will be happy to sell you a copy of Punctuality for around five bucks, or will give it to you for free if he's in a good mood.
Punctuality stars Tartaglia's younger brother Frank as 19-year old Anthony DeMarco who wants to become a comic-book artist. His father, recently released from prison, wants him to get a "respectable" job down at the local mob hangout and arranges to have the local mobster Nicky Nuts (Tartaglia's electrician uncle Domenick in an amazing performance) employ him as errand boy. He turns out to be good at his job, and as his star rises he is torn between the Italian old school grown-up world and his peers in the more racially-integrated hip hop crowd. Ronald Samuel Jacobs plays Angelo, a thuggish John Gotti wannabe whose desperate efforts to pay a debt to Nicky Nuts cause him to cross paths with Anthony and Anthony is forced to make a life-changing decision.
Like the streets it was shot on, Punctuality is gritty. Acting sometimes is subpar although other times it's impressive. As the tagline suggests, this is Tartaglia's directing debut and sometimes it shows. The dialog is full of Italian South Philadelphia colloquialisms, and at times it is deliriously profane. The soundtrack is eclectic, including old school South Philly crooner Fabian, some impressive hip-hop freestylers, and Philadelphia punk legend Mikey Wild. The movie won audience favorite awards at several film festivals, but at 54 minutes running time and padded as it is, it didn't get picked up by distributors looking for feature length projects.
Punctuality was ahead of its time. These days, with digital video and You Tube, it could have been self-produced and self-distributed for even less money or even put online like fellow Philadelphia student film maker Maya Churi did with her feature Letters From Home Room not two years later.
As for the Tartaglias, the gentrification of their old neighborhood hasn't driven them away. They are still there on 9th Street, and many members of the cast are still living and working there too (the guy who played short-tempered gangster Big Frankie is actually a cheerful friendly guy). They've opened up a theatre in their mother's old storefront, where they showcase local talent. If you catch him in between booking acts, Joe Tartaglia will be happy to sell you a copy of Punctuality for around five bucks, or will give it to you for free if he's in a good mood.
