Opens October 22nd
New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey…It seems to be everywhere as producers and directors seek to fill the nation’s void after the HBO’s hit series The Sopranos went off the year. The Housewives of New Jersey and Jersey Shore are two of the cheaper entities purporting to reflect life in the Garden State, and HBO’s new Boardwalk series is a more elaborate and historical representation of the drama surrounding New Jersey’s Atlantic City.
Now there is the soon to be released movie version of the book The Soprano State which made the New York Times Best Seller List. Written by NJ reporters Bob Ingle and Sand McClure, the book details New Jersey’s long history of corruption. Reviewers on Amazon.com regularly describe the book as a page turner, best non-fiction ever, and mandatory reading for any New Jersey resident.
Chris Christie, former federal prosecutor, cooperated with both the book authors and the movie directors, but other notable public figures in New Jersey take a dimmer view on people describing the state as suffering from a culture of corruption. Christie’s replacement as the chief federal prosecutor in NJ, Paul Fishman, took exception to the description of New Jersey as “most corrupt” state in America saying it is “demoralizing” to New Jersey residents. One of the author’s of the book, Bob Ingle, offers an opinion piece in response and readers can click here to access it.
While many people would prefer to see the movie developed as an HBO mini-series, or as a musical, the end product is a documentary. Last summer saw national attention being paid to another New Jersey documentary entitled The Cartel which USA Today reported, “The Cartel… takes on the unconscionable failure of New Jersey’s public schools.” One can only expect that The Soprano State the movie will exceed The Cartel in evoking both tears and laughter with a real life cast of characters that spans centuries. The film was produced by three-time Academy Award nominee Steve Kalafer .
Below is a video that has nothing at all to do with the documentary film, The Soprano State….but it does offer an idea of what the film would be like if it was not a documentary – a good laugh at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.