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REVIEW: Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game deals a wonderful hand for both the realities of the aging process and Martin Landau's final performance

Frank Ochieng
Contributor
REVIEW: Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game deals a wonderful hand for both the realities of the aging process and Martin Landau's final performance

Seldom does a contemporary film capture the true spirit of the aging process and delve into the delicate psyche of mature people coping with the loss of self-independence. In writer-director Howard L. Weiner's affecting dramedy Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game he explores the journey of human dignity through the confines of advanced age and sickness through a couple of facility-bound old timers from different walks of life that end up securing an unlikely friendship.

Weiner's Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game is his feature film debut and it is an impressive, nuanced drama that tugs at the heartstrings in witty, poignant fashion. Importantly, Weiner's (a highly noted neurologist with a directorial documentary credit entitled "What is Life? The Movie) gracefully winning exposition marks the final big-screen performance for the late great Ed Wood Oscar-winning star Martin Landau. In fact, Weiner's contemplative direction is worthy enough to earn Landau a posthumous Academy Award nomination for his brilliant turn as an elderly physician finding new life and purpose within the trappings of a health-challenged octogenarian. Also, Paul Sorvino deserves some Oscar consideration as his applauded performance as the gambling womanizer living on borrowed time is one of his best performances of his career. Fittingly, Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game is a welcomed and sophisticated hybrid of The Odd Couple meets Grumpy Old Men. 

Retired 83-year old Dr. Abe Mendelbaum (Landau) is an accomplished professional and marches to the beat of his own drum but has no choice but to give up his home and take residency at the Cliffside Manor assisted-living facility along with his dementia-stricken wife Molly (Ann Marie Shea). Sadly, Abe can no longer care for Molly in the manner that she deserves. At Cliffside Manor, Abe makes it very clear that he is to be addressed as "doctor"--no doubt a desperate means to hang on to his prized medical identity as functional, purposeful and significant despite his geriatric care status (soon, the good doctor would learn to accept being referred to as just plain "Abe"). Technically, it is Molly whose special attention is needed to be watched over constantly as Abe is her stand-by support. However, Abe cannot totally escape his occasional medical concerns regarding his lapses of heart spasms. 

It does not take long for Abe to wander around the facility and socialize with fellow occupants and Cliffside staff alike. Abe eventually meets Phil Nicoletti (Sorvino), a Teddy Bearish long-time facility resident with a penchant for card games and comforting feel for a titillating female body. Phil has never been married but shares with Abe his playboy past as a sexual scorer of hundreds of womanly conquests. Both men do have one thing in common--they have never had children. Nevertheless, Abe feels comfortable enough to share his virility woes with the more than experienced Phil. Indeed, off-the-cuff sexual talk and jokes would colorfully define the newest friendship between the straight-laced physician and one-time roguish Lothario. 

However, both Abe and Phil will add some zip (and angst) to their partnership when a 35-year old nurse named Angela Donadio (Maria Dizzia) arrives on the scene. Actually, the method behind Angela's madness for employment at Cliffside Manor is based on a reliable tip that her biological father is residing at the place of her new job. Naturally, she is there to discover which one of the older men at the facility is her Daddy Dearest (Angela's adoptive parents had died). Thankfully, Angela would soon become close to both Abe and Phil while enjoying a special connection with each of the men. But soon Angela's quest for the identity of her biological father would cause minor friction between the two buddies. The thought of claiming Angela as their adult child would somehow bring a sense of completion to the guys. For Abe, his theory about Angela being his kid stems from a nostalgic tryst with a nurse he worked with years ago. As for Phil, Angela's Italian heritage and his sleeping around with countless women over the years could very well be conceivable that the young nurse could have come from his seed. Abe has never been able to have children with Molly. Plus, Phil--who knows he is dying soon--does not want to depart this world alone and have someone to carry on his memory.  

One can certainly digest the spirited Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game for its jugging of gentle humor and the emotional seriousness of getting old and dependent on others when the physical capacity to do so is impossible. Weiner resourcefully weaves out the playfulness with some occasional pathos. The core of the film's pulse is Landau's Abe and Sorvino's Phil suggestive discussions about sex and the cheeky relationship they share like two teenagers discovering a peephole into the girl's locker room. Abe, feeling guilty about failing to please Molly sexually in the bedroom, finds the golden opportunity to get his groove on when getting intimate with an insecure yet shapely and desirable fifty-something former model-turned-volunteer Sheryl (Pamela Dubin). Of course, Abe consults Phil as he vicariously lives through the good doctor's fortune of bedding down a younger babe.

Sure, Abe and Phil exchange salty jokes, curse and keep tabs on their hormones. Bottom line: they are old and frail but they are still men with adventurous needs. Instinctively, Weiner makes it just as important for Abe and Phil to experience the joy of life through an erection as well as for them being able to visit the local sports bar and let their hair hang down with Angela as their supportive caretaker/companion. 

Essentially, Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game is a nice farewell for Landau's long and distinguished career as he embodies the soul of his stern but nurturing characterization with reverence. Sorvino shines and his roguish wink and old-time swagger channeled through Phil allow him an impish humanity in understated sadness. Dizzia's Angela and Shea's Molly both register with sympathetic gusto in their noteworthy support of bringing psychological balance to the titular characters. And Alexander Cook's Grollman adds a quirky touch as the indifferent facility administrator with the humorous "aversion to old people".

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adoptionagingassisted living facilityMartin LandauPaul Sorvinopokersickness

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