The Hungry Ghosts (Michael Imperioli, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

  Frank is loud, foul-mouthed and slightly drunk.  He is seated inside a club drinking and playing 21.

Nadia is assisting an elderly in their own death.

Frank is bounced out of the club after several warnings and finds himself at the back door of another.

Nadia quietly skips out on her land-lady, only to find herself homeless.  When the homeowner returns to find her sitting on their stoop with her baggage, a fight ensues.

Back and forth, the audience is bounced around in Michael Imperioli’s The Hungry Ghosts.  We eventually discover that Frank (Steve Schirripa) is a local radio host and a loser dad to a teenage boy named Matthew (Emory Cohen).  Matthew and Frank visit a therapist, because Frank is an absentee dad, or when he is present he’s habitually late.  Frank is not only selfish, he also swallows meds with alcohol and is addicted to blow.

Enter Gus (Nick Sandow), a new character who’s a recovering addict.  He makes several attempts to contact Nadia (Aunjanue Ellis) who’s a yoga/new age follower, and who’s pretty much finished with Gus.

Meanwhile, Matthew ditches therapy with dad and sits all day on a park bench, until he is ultimately picked up, fed drugs and alcohol, and seduced into a menage a trois by a creepy older couple.

Despite the strong acting talent, the plot leaves you empty with characters of little or no redeeming value.  A hungry ghost is an unfulfilled spirit that feeds on the emotions of humans, causing them addictions – having appetites that are never satisfied.  Okay, I get all that, but what exactly is Imperioli’s message?