I first saw Dennis Farina in the TV series Crime Story in the end of 1980s. And he stuck in my memory as a guy portraying sleazy cops and gangsters. In this sense The Last Rites of Joe May is not far away from that image.

There is one significant difference, however. Although we're still in the shady underworld of low-level criminals, his character glows with genuine repentance. For once in his lifetime, he's trying to make things right, but it seems to be harder than he expects.

There's also another TV darling from 1980s and 1990s in this one, namely Gary Cole. Overall this is a very good movie.

Dennis Farina gives a strong performance as a rather pathetic small time hustler, who after spending six weeks in the hospital, for pneumonia, finds out his apartment has been re-rented, his belongings tossed, and his car towed and auctioned off.

The woman(Jamie Anne Allman)who was given his apartment feels sorry for him and offers Farina a room for a weekly fee and Farina accepts. He soon finds out she has a terribly sadistic and abusive boyfriend, who's a Chicago cop.

Farina, who loves opera and raising pigeons on the roof, soon hits the streets trying to hustle up some merchandise to sell. Visiting old contacts, who regard him a "joke' his efforts only earn him more misery.

In failing health, he tries to reconcile with his son, to no avail.

As the abuse of Allman, for whom Farina had been slowing bonding with as well as her daughter, worsens you can see which way the film is heading, and it bleakly doesn't disappoint.

The acting, especially by Farina, but also by Allman and her abusive boyfriend (Ian Barford) is very solid but the depressing and grim nature of the film left me turned off and cold.

I have always loved Dennis Farina's work, and I think he is one of our most underrated actors. I was drawn to this movie by the enthusiastic reviews of other Farina fans, and I was enthralled from the very beginning. One of the beauties of the film is its great understatedness. The dialogue plays a minimal part here in portraying where people are coming from; visual portrayal and facial expression are paramount here. Musical background is minimal, and what there is - in the form of Italian opera - is used masterfully. This is a sad but beautiful story of people in extremis, and like so many great stories - both literary and cinematic - it's a story of redemption. It's one of the few films I have seen that can be classified as great tragedies, and like all great tragedies, one does not feel depressed but cleansed. This is the great role that was meant for Dennis Farina, and he hits it out of the park. Ave, atque, vale, Mr. Farina.