Tribeca Film has acquired distribution rights to The Last Rites of Joe May starring Dennis Farina and Jamie Anne Allman (The Killing), and written and directed by Joe Maggio. The film had its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and is set for an October release on Video on Demand as well as a theatrical run.
“I’m thrilled to have Tribeca handling the release of The Last Rites of Joe May,” said Maggio, commenting on the acquisition. “It’s a really personal film and Tribeca was so passionate about it, right from the beginning. I couldn’t have asked for a better fit.”
“Joe Maggio has imagined a character that resonates with subtlety and truth in addressing the realities of the final denouement of one’s life in The Last Rites of Joe May,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises. “Dennis Farina delivers the performance of his lifetime with a realism and vulnerability that we haven’t seen before.”
The Plot: In the spirit of classic 1970s filmmaking, Joe May is the story of a sixty-something Chicagoan named Joe May, a short-money hustler of Rolex knockoffs and bootleg DVDs. Joe returns home from a lengthy hospital stay only to find that his landlord thought he was dead and rented out his apartment to Jenny (Allman), a single mom with a young daughter.
Begrudgingly, Joe accepts Jenny’s offer to share the apartment. Joe attempts to plot his comeback scheme with help from an old contact (Gary Cole), but instead, a domino effect gets everything going against him. With his health failing and resources dwindling, Joe is presented with one last shot at redemption in the eyes of a community that’s all but left him for dead.
