Dennis Farina is a legendary actor known for roles in films like Snatch, Out of Sight and Midnight Run, and of course for his long-running stint on Law & Order as Detective Joe Fontana. But even this far into his career he's still able to show a new side of himself in the indie The Last RItes of Joe May, in which he plays a hustler who falls on hard times and is forced to reckon both with his own legacy and with the people around him. Joe May recently played at the Chicago Film Festival and can now be seen in select theaters and Video On Demand programs. For an idea of what to expect, check out this exclusive clip from the film, in which Joe is released from the hospital only to find that his own car is no longer there waiting for him.
Below is the official synopsis for The Last Rites of Joe May if you want to know more.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, aging short-money hustler Joe May (Dennis Farina) always believed he had a glorious future ahead of him. Now in his sixties, Joe is released from the hospital after a long battle with pneumonia and forced to confront the harsh reality of his legacy: everyone he knew had assumed he was dead, and life had gone on around him without missing a beat. Returning to his old neighborhood in Chicago’s “Patch” district, he finds his car gone, all his worldly possessions pawned by his landlord, and the apartment he’s lived in his entire adult life rented out to a single mother named Jenny and her eight year-old daughter Angelina . After a rough night’s sleep outdoors, Joe reluctantly moves in with the new tenants of his home – at least until he is able to get back on his feet.Even as Joe doggedly pursues his comeback, he finds the odds stacked drastically against him. He gets no respect from his old supplier, his best friend and partner in crime has moved into an assisted living facility, and even Joe’s prized pigeon coops have fallen into disrepair. Throughout this ordeal, Joe’s one lifeline is his burgeoning friendship with his co-tenants. So when things turn ugly between Jenny and her boyfriend – a crooked detective with a penchant for domestic violence – Joe is determined to take a stand for his unlikely new family, and perhaps take one last shot at redefining his legacy.
