lewwarden This movie was passably interesting but I found the readers' comments even more interesting. Obviously both readers, writer, director, et al. are of today's generation of takers who don't have the least idea about what life was life in those terrible days. The central figure, a 12 year old boy who wants to go to the movies, is repeatedly seen trying to cadge a quarter from his dying grandfather.Out of compassion, a grocer who is overextended giving credit to his impoverished neighbors and forgives their small thefts, gives the kid a nickel for a job the kid never does. A compassionate doctor, who himself is nearly as bad off financially as his patients, gives the kid a dime for a job the kid never does. Finally the kid badgers his mother into giving him her last dime for attending to his grandfather's dying wish. This the kid does, in a really great scene. But he gets to the theater too late for the twenty five cents early admission price. Now the price is fifty cents, a seemingly hopeless sum.This was an absurd price for a movie ticket in those days. I recall ten or fifteen cents for a kid and two bits for adults. But fifty cents then was a good pay for a day's hard work by a man. As Steinbeck wrote of those days regarding a California farmer's view of fair wages: "A red is any son of a bitch who wants five cents an hour when I'm paying four." I got forty cents per month per customer for getting up at 4:00 am delivering newspapers door to door, and had to pay the company for the papers whether the customer paid me or not.Back to the movie -- Then the grandfather dies and, miraculously, the kid finds a quarter in the dirt nearby. And off he goes to the theater, splurging the whole fifty cents. Not a penny's worth of character development here, although the opportunity to do so was palpable. What a message to send the spoiled brats of today who seem to think they have a God-given right to live off of their parents and grandparents until the old folks die. When that happens we're going to have a hell of a depression. Which we need like a hole in the head. Today homeless people are living in parks and riverside camps and in alleyways behind restaurant dumpsters in the same terrible conditions and nearly the numbers we had during the depression era. The only difference is the modern stainless steel shopping carts they commandeer to move their possessions. But nobody seems to bother counting them, much less doing anything about their plight. We just don't want to see them and so, miraculously, they aren't there. This play could have been redeemed if the kid had foregone his utterly selfish obsession to go to the movie, and had paid the doctor and the grocer the unearned 15 cents they had given him, and had given his mother back her dime plus the two bits he "inherited" from his grandfather. Or would that have been a politically incorrect message to send to the children of today? Twelve year is not by any means too young for a child to be aware of the economic burdens parents have today, and certainly wasn't the case back in the thirties. I vividly remember when I was about 12 and spent a summer on my grandfather's ranch -- which he had lost long before to the mortgage holder who let him and grandma live there until he died on the land he and his parents had owned for nearly a century. He taught me how to play poker, so well in fact that by the time my vacation was over, I had a pretty fair stack of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters which I kept stacked on the kitchen table with the sugar bowl and salt and pepper shakers.I really felt bad about taking the money -- although God knows the old man had lost his ranch in large part because of his gambling and hell-raising youth -- and so when my folks picked me up I "forgot" my small hoard of possibly three-four dollars, which was big money to me too. Later I got a letter from my grandmother noting my gesture, but letting me know that my grandfather was deeply hurt because a 12 year old kid had felt sorry for him.My grandfather taught me to play a pretty good game of poker too, which I put to good use in the Army and later when I had to play "poker" with the insurance companies for much higher stakes. Like the man used to sing, "You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em."Anyhow, TWO BITS was a big disappointment to me for these reasons. Obviously, I'm not at all happy with the state of affairs in our society these days. If you want more lectures along these lines, see our website (www.networkcentralca.net) based on the 1976 blockbuster movie NETWORK where Paddy Chayefski -- also a Depression era child -- famously satirized and forecast the sorry state of affairs of our news media and economy. Some day a more vital culture, whether Chinese or Mexican or Muslim, is going to eat us alive, and if you are around then and don't know why, remember TWO BITS.Lew Warden

stijnvth In my life I only had two real soul-stirring moments. One of those two was due to this film. I believe if you ever lost a person real close to you this is an absolute must see. I very very rarely cry with a movie but Two bits (especially the last phrase) cut right trough me. An amazing performance by Al Pacino but the whole tone was right on the spot. It's done in a way with knowledge of the medium and respect to the delicateness of telling a story, the right way. I don't think after seeing this movie i will ever want to see another James Foley film. Not that i didn't like the experience. But because of the fact that i liked it too much. And every other film by this director could only be worse.Hats of to the writer: Joseph Stefano. Because beside the fact that the film itself has a decent plot, the final sentence as i said before really blew me away. This movie is readable in different ways so everybody can enjoy it. Only thing is everybody will read different things in it. A must see...

BleekersPorkSword If you have experienced loss of someone close this movie will surely have an effect on you. It's a wonderful look at a relationship between a boy and his grandfather in the depression era. As always Al Pacino (the best actor who ever lived) is brilliant and heartwarming in this sincere yet all together different role for him. A short but bittersweet film that will take you on a sad but very personal journey. I've seen this film about 10 times and have never made it all the way through without crying. This is a beautiful film in todays blockbuster big movie era. No special effects just emotions. Definitely better than 5.8 out of 10 I would say more like 8 out of 10. Mary Elizabeth and Al are magnificent-

zids The last line in the movie had tears falling from our eyes. We LOVED this movie. It kept us interested throughout! The realism of Philadelphia was wonderful, especially since it was supposed to be many years in the past. Acting superb, content holding, message eye opening. all in all, a movie we never expected to be so good, was in fact, heart warming. Joe and Lydia