The Wool Cap

Starring:William H. Macy, Ned Beatty, Nathan Wright, Edward Yankie, Stephen Mwinga, Andrew Johnston (VI), Cherise Boothe, Chris Dyson (II), Julie Guy, Robert Hatch (II), Jacqueline Pillon, Marian Wagner, Alison Sealy-Smith, Ricardo Rosa, Phillip Cole Jr., Tyrone Benskin, Cecile Cristobal, Kwasi Songui, Amaris D'Mayan-Psaqua, Darcy Laurie
Director: Steven Schachter
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The well-worn, everyman face of William H. Macy anchors The Wool Cap, which carefully walks the perilous line between sentiment and sap. Gigot (Macy, Fargo), mute since a car accident damaged his throat, maintains a decaying apartment building where one of his tenants abruptly leaves--leaving behind her pre-teen daughter Lou (Keke Palmer, Akeelah and the Bee). Naturally, Gigot and Lou end up forming a make-shift family; but The Wool Cap is smart enough not to make the journey too simple or too easy. The movie takes intriguing side trips. Gigot's ambigious relationship with Gloria (the always great Catherine O'Hara, A Mighty Wind), troubles with his father (Ned Beatty, Hear My Song, Deliverance), and the trenchant rants of Ira (Don Rickles, Casino) give The Wool Cap a tart, bittersweet edge. Even the inevitable warmth between Gigot and Lou faces some hurdles to give it some richness. Based on a story by classic comedian Jackie Gleason (The Honeymooners), the screenplay for this well-produced TV movie was co-written by Macy himself. --Bret Fetzer

Description

THE WOOL CAP is an edgy yet poignant drama that tells the story of Gigot, a mute building superintendent who is tortured by his past but finds new life when he befriends Lou, a bright young girl who is abandoned by her mother. Their troubled lives collide when each of them is tested to overcome their demons. However, by seeking out his estranged father (Beatty) and with the help of Ira (Rickles), an elderly tenant in Gigot's building and Gloria (O'Hara), Gigot's supportive girlfriend, Gigot and Lou are able to put their lives back together.

Customer Reviews:

The Wool Cap.......2007-05-08

A movie with rare sensitivity and compassion for an array of troubled persons. It is such a compelling drama that it is impossible not to feel intense sympathy and even love for almost all.

Great Feel Good Family Film.......2007-03-23

I first saw this movie when it originally aired on Television and have loved it since. It gives me goose bumps, chills, and tears and all for the best reasons. It is a story hope and tragedy; sacrifice and struggle; insecurity and trust. This is an excellent movie.

Superior in every way...........2006-05-25

Everyone, at least by now, already knows that this is a remake of a previous movie, and therefore they should know the basic story. If not, then just read any of the other reviews posted here. Having said that, let's get right to my review. William H. Macy, who plays the main character of this film, is outstanding as usual. His character is a deaf-mute, and therefore never says a single word. Through his excellent performance, Mr. Macy manages to convey exactly what his character is thinking and feeling. In fact, you can almost sense exactly what he would say, if his character could speak. Mr. Macy is in excellent company, as well. There are many fine performances from the supporting actors....Don Rickles, Catherine O'Hara and Ned Beatty....to name a few. With all due respect to Mr. Macy (who I think is always good), I was most impressed with Keke Palmer's performance, as the abandoned girl who befriends William H. Macy's character. It would be so easy for a child actor to over-play this kind of role, or make it seem as though the performance was forced out of him/her. But I am here to tell you all, that this actress makes her performance seem so real and natural. And she is incredibly likeable as well. Based on this performance alone, I think Keke Palmer should have a bright future in acting. She is amazing, and deserves all the praise she receives. And despite the theme of this film, it never gets sappy, or too sweet. An interesting story, along with fine performances across the board, will make this worth your while.

Prayer Changes Things.......2006-01-02

Of our approximately 1200 DVDs, this is one of my top five favorites. I cannot think of another movie where the lead actor never utters a word, yet expresses so much emotion. This is really a story of tragedy and redemption. Unlike so many so-called "Christian movies," God, faith, prayer, etc. is never mentioned. But it is shown by example. The First Commandment is to love God; the Second is to love others. Gigot shows this by loving little Lou even though her mom is a prostitute and junkie, and Lou is an undisciplined handful. He does this selflessly in spite of his own limitations (being mute) and hidden tragedy.

When things get to their lowest, and all seems hopeless, Gigot returns to church, although he has apparently not gone in years. After he reverently looks at the statues and plaques, in a state of prayer, he leaves the church renewed. It is then that redemption and positive changes takes place in his and Lou's life.

For parents who would like to show their kids movies with positive Christian or Spiritual (i.e. Godly) values without ramming religion down their throats, "The Wool Cap" is a wise choice.

So, who needs words?.......2005-10-22

Take a Hallmark production and slate it for broadcast during the Christmas season, and most times you have a guaranteed recipe for schmaltz. Fortunately, in the case of The Wool Cap, a 2004 movie now available on DVD, the result is an honest, human movie whose gritty edge and powerful performances keep it fresh, even if it is predictable.

A remake of Jackie Gleason's classic, Gigot, the story unfolds along initially familiar lines. Hard luck, crusty, frequently intoxicated janitor "Chico," played here by William H. Macy, finds himself the unwilling and decidedly unofficial guardian of a captivating, if troublesome, young girl named Lou. But from the beginning Macy the screenwriter does Macy the actor an enormous favor by tossing out the Frank Capra conventions and setting Chico and Lou in the unvarnished (but equally unexaggerated) ghetto. In the opening twenty minutes of this film, at the same time we are getting to know the main characters, we are also getting a feeling for their hardscrabble world of losers, drug addicts, violence, fear and general hopelessness. If the perky, young hooker upstairs seems too pat and too Hollywood, Macy's screenplay shrewdly balances her with the shopworn, older hooker who reserves Wednesdays for Chico alone...apparently one of only two human relationships Fate and Chico himself have allowed him to maintain. Where earlier efforts along these lines would have had Lou's parents die in a "terrible accident," or in an anonymous and random act of war, Macy's screenplay firmly roots the story in the case files of today, by having Lou abandoned by a drug befogged mother who later dies of an OD. Making the situation all the more grim, Chico is a mute, rendered speechless by a car accident almost thirty years ago.

Chico's other two central relationships are with Ira, his Jewish tenant, played with gusto and undisguised relish by Don Rickles (who else could pull off using the word schmutz?), and "Grace," his pet spider monkey, who, needless to say, just about steals any scene she is in. But what truly makes this film an amazing feat is Macy's performance. Without uttering a single syllable, Macy understatedly takes us through the full range of human emotions as Chico resents life, resents Lou, resents her mother, and throughout, resents himself, before finding a meaning and purpose and a dogged determination to rescue the future from the damning grips of the past. It is, without a doubt, a stellar performance.

In addition to Don Rickles, Cathrine O'Hara appears in far too few scenes as Chico's pay-as-you-go love interest, a role she nails with dead on accuracy; and Ned Beatty appears briefly but powerfully as Chico's embittered father.

This isn't great theater; or maybe it is. It is touching, without being cloying. It is sweet without being saccharin, and it is reaffirming, without being schmaltzy. It is quite simply a dammed good film.

DVD:

DVD

Rumpole Of The Bailey: Series 4 [1978]

DVD: Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Manos, the Hands of Fate

Robin Of Sherwood - Series 3 - Part 1 - Episodes 1 To 6