This movie so aptly depicts the typical local pub and its immediate environs like no other movie I can remember. No phony props or gussied-up stars need apply for this amazing blend of humor and pathos, centering on Tommy Basilio, a drifting, booze-loving, socially inept, confused 20-something, who is in the throes of a pre mid-life crisis. Steve Buscemi's genius lies his total absorption of the central character and his ability to extract much of the same from his fellow actors. One is totally immersed in the middle class consciousness of this typical Long Island suburb to the point that you actually feel you are watching this happen on a sidewalk in the town, rather than in a theater or on TV.<br /><br />You gotta love the character interaction between him and Chloe S. from the ice-cream truck to the "Munchkin" song. The cameo-ish performances of T. Lapaglia, Sam Jackson, etc. really augment the story line impeccably. Samuel Jackson has to crack you up when he says to Tommy's new-found drinking buddy: "Your wife likes the city because she is a city girl, and you are too!" Whoa..a city GIRL too??<br /><br />In short, great comedy, drama, romance, real life stuff...GREAT MOVIE!