The Super

The Super (1991) is an American comedy starring Joe Pesci — watch it online on iFILM. Louie Kritski inherits a block of rundown New York apartment buildings from his father and has no interest in fixing a single thing. The tenants keep complaining. Louie keeps stalling.

A judge runs out of patience and hands down an unusual sentence: Louie must move into one of his own buildings and live there — no repairs to his own unit until every other apartment meets basic standards. He goes from avoiding his properties to being trapped inside the worst one. Vincent Gardenia plays his father, and Ruben Blades appears as a tenant who makes Louie's life considerably harder. Director Rod Daniel keeps the setup grounded and mean enough to give the comedy some bite.

Pesci is working in a different register than his mob roles — Louie is petty and self-interested rather than dangerous, and watching him slowly run out of excuses is the whole joke. Not a subtle film, but an honest one about a man who had to be forced to see his neighbors as people. Stream The Super (1991) online on iFILM.