Paul Guilfoyle is best known to fans of “CSI.” He’s one of those journeyman character actors you see in everything, you really like him, but there’s never any traction.
So now Guilfoyle stars in “Any Day Now,” a gem of a heist movie from Eric Aronson not really based on a true story.
In 1990, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed of 13 classic paintings worth — then — $500 million. The burglary remains an unsolved mystery despite a $10 million reward. Where are the paintings? No one knows. But the empty frames where the stolen paintings once hung are still displayed in the museum.
Aronson, imaginatively, has made up characters and a scenario starting with a charismatic lifelong criminal named Marty, played by Guilfoyle. It’s the kind of character the late, great Bob Hoskins played in many films. It’s a winner.
The movie is set in Boston, with a real Boston feel for the indie music scene in 1990 that seems like it could also be 1978. Marty finds a kid named Steve (Taylor Gray) who works at the museum as a security guard and has gambling debts. Marty convinces Steve to help him rob the museum. But there are twists.
In Aronson’s mind, a rival gang of criminals interfere with Marty’s plan. Also, Aronson has given Steve a little backstory — he has a bunch of musician roommates, one of which is a version of Boston punk rocker Jonathan Richman (but 20 years younger — he even sings “Roadrunner” live in a club). Aronson obviously writes from first hand experience. It’s as genuine as “Almost Famous.”
“Any Day Now” isn’t perfect, but when Guilfoyle gets to sing the Standells’ “Dirty Water” it’s like that moment in Belfast for Jamie Dornan. Marty is a man of many layers and Guilfoyle makes the most of his nuanced past. Meantime Taylor Gray — who played Al Franken in the underappreciated Saturday Night Live movie last year, feels like he should be a star already.
“Any Day Now” drops tomorrow on Apple, Amazon, and other streamers after premiering at the Boston Film Festival followed by a short theatrical run
I don’t know why it didn’t play at festivals, and isn’t on Netflix, which ran a four part documentary about the heist in 2021 called “This is a Robbery.” All three should have come into play. But by all means, hunt it down.
