King of the Gypsies (1978)

Directed by Frank Pierson. Starring Eric Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Judd Hirsch, Sterling Hayden, Annette O’Toole, Brooke Shields, Shelley Winters, Michael V. Gazzo, Annie Potts, Antonia Rey, Joe Zaloom, Stephen Mendillo, Daniel Spira. [R]

Passable story of a clan of Gypsies in 20th century New York City with their aging “king” (Hayden) looking to name a successor, and ultimately passing over mercurial son, Groffo (Hirsch), in favor of grandson, Dave (Roberts), who wants nothing to do with it. Aspires to be a multi-generational epic about family, code, and cultural identity, but it’s far too much of a disorganized, undercooked mess to work on those lofty terms, with almost all of the atmosphere being provided by David Grisman’s folk music score (with considerable contributions from jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli). The central characterization is one of doubt and reluctance, but very little drive or meaning, and Dave’s relationships with several key players in his life, including girlfriend O’Toole and sister Shields, are too fuzzy to be persuasive. Roberts is shaky but sometimes quite good in his first film role, and rivals Hayden and Gazzo give textured performances deserving of a more richly-nuanced and dramatically-potent saga. Sven Nykvist supplies his customary excellent photography. Try to spot Rachel Ticotin as a dancer (also her first film appearance).

56/100