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May 09, 2014 By Austin Trunick

Downtrodden Mickey Scarpato (Philip Seymour Hoffman) ekes out a modest existence in the working class, South Philadelphia slum known as God’s Pocket. His mentally ill stepson is killed on a construction site in what police were calling a freak accident, but his beautiful wife (Christina Hendricks) doesn’t believe that story. She turns to the local newspaper columnist (Richard Jenkins) to help her find the truth, while her husband struggles to pay for a funeral he can’t afford.

The stars could hardly have aligned better for John Slattery’s directorial debut. The Mad Men actor co-adapted the screenplay from the Pete Dexter (author of Paris Trout) novel of the same name, and his direction lands a strong balance of dark humor and tragedy. In one of his final films, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his signature sad bastard role with a level of grace few others have rivaled. The exceedingly strong cast also includes John Turturro and a superb stable of recognizable character actors filling out its minor roles, including Glenn Fleshler, Eddie Marsan, Caleb Jones, and Domenick Lombardozzi. If this film is any indication, Slattery has an auspicious second career ahead of him behind the camera.

www.ifcfilms.com/films/gods-pocket

Author rating: 8.5/10