Everyone knows him as Ralph Cifaretto on the HBO hit show The Sopranos. But before Tony, Carmela, Silvio, and Dr. Melfi took Sunday-night television by storm, Joe Pantoliano was one of America's busiest actors, giving unforgettable performances in such films as Memento, The Matrix, The Fugitive, and Risky Business. Now, the street-smart kid who grew up in Sinatra's hometown shares the stage with the eccentric and colorful wise guys from his family and neighborhood.
Fade in on the projects of Hoboken, New Jersey, during the fifties and sixties. That's little Joey, running numbers with his chain-smoking mother, Mary, so they can keep a roof over their heads. When he wasn't busy staying one step ahead of the bill collectors, he was learning the ropes from "Cousin" Florie: his "stepfather" and a wise guy whose connections to the Genovese family couldn't keep him out of jail for drug trafficking. Then there was Joey's real father, "Monk," a factory worker with a weakness for gambling at the track who was later reborn as a hearse chauffeur for the local funeral parlor.
With a winning blend of humor, charm, and pure showmanship, Pantoliano tells it like it was. From a connected Jersey street kid to a successful Hollywood actor who would, ironically, re-create his wise-guy boyhood in role after role, Who's Sorry Now is an irresistibly entertaining treat for anyone interested in this true-life "Soprano" and a real stand-up guy.
