Fingers

Harvey Keitel plays a piano virtuoso with a twisted second job - he's the muscle man who 'collects' on his mob father's debts. Of course, this creates an internal struggle between the artist's commitments to his father and his love of music.

The debut film for director-writer James Toback has developed a cult following over the years but was one of three 1978 films that put a damper on Harvey Keitel's career for more than a decade. In this overheated brew of testosterone and male sensitivity, Keitel plays the son of a fading mob boss; Dad forces him to work as a leg-breaker collecting bad debts while Mom wants him to pursue a career as a classical pianist. Isn't this how Van Cliburn got his start? Keitel rides an emotional roller coaster, torn between parental poles even as he faces the audition that could launch him on the concert circuit. Oh, and for good measure, he starts to suffer doubts about his own manhood, thanks to an encounter with ex-footballer Jim Brown. Strictly for Toback and Keitel aficionados. --Marshall Fine