Institute History
Description
Kiss Me, Guido is a hilarious freewheeling romp that delivers a hilarious send-up of New York City’s clashing cultures and throws in some valuable life lessons for good measure. Frankie Zito is a sexy twenty-four-year-old who works at a pizza parlor in the Bronx. After finding his longtime girlfriend “doing” his brother on the kitchen table, he decides it’s time to follow his dream. In the long tradition of his countrymen Pacino, DeNiro, and Stallone, he will become an actor.
But first he must get out of the Bronx. Warren is a GWM living in Greenwich Village (everyone knows that’s a Guy with Money; at least that’s what Frankie assumes). Although it’s only a subway ride away, Frankie sets out to discover the new world south of 14th Street. First-time director Tony Vitale embraces both of these worlds with zeal and humor. Ever notice that disco music is a favorite of both Italian-Americans and gay men? No one is left unscathed as Vitale mines this fertile territory for every laugh and nuance. The cast, all indie regulars, are especially skillful at snappy, zany dialogue. By getting past their various phobias, whether it’s homophobia or heterophobia, the characters in Kiss Me, Guido step outside their own circles and learn that being open-minded is not that much different from being “out.”