With the exception of a few jarringly modern-looking scenes, director Ari Taub takes you back to the 1970s with the snazzy suits, surfeit of vintage cars, and gritty 16mm shooting in 69 Parts—a zany, Quentin Tarantino-lite crime comedy. Its knotty premise and hodgepodge of supporting characters work well with the film’s mischievous and scrappy style.
Set in 1979, 69 Parts follows Jack (an earnest Ryan O’Callaghan), a hapless, virginal, law student with an artistic heart who needs to pay his tuition. His dynamic best friend Gino (Johnny Solo, in the film’s standout performance), a compulsive gambler, recruits the cunning Irish gangster to lend Jack $10,000, which Gino convinces Jack to bet in a horse race. Naturally, they lose and their blunder unfurls a series of wacky hijinks where the hard-luck student is forced to marry Dennis’ beautiful mistress (the beguiling Daniela Mastropietro who gives a spirited performance) in order to secure her a green card.
Writer Chuck McMahon gleefully inserts a medley of other subplots, making use of their eclectic cast of colorful characters including the mobster’s suspicious wife, Jack’s father, dim-witted chop shop workers, and various other menacing henchmen. Notable actors round out the ensemble such as Eric Roberts, Sandra Bernhard, Tony Lo Bianco, and more. Their kooky exploits unfold with a snappy vigor driven by Cristhian Andrews’ bouncy score. What is the most intriguing about 79 Parts is the way that Taub and his screenwriters endow their bevy of characters with distinctive personalities and quirks. They seamlessly balance the various shifts in perspective and voice-over narration.
These overlapping scenarios and Taub’s frenetic direction makes 69 Parts a bit chaotic, but the film has a rugged charm, particularly in the lead actors' committed performances. These vivid characters transcend archetypes and are equal parts goofy and introspective. Recommended.