Fan Forum - Det. Joe Fontana/Dennis Farina (The new guy of L&O)

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Det. Joe Fontana/Dennis Farina (The new guy of L&O)

From nbc.com

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Dennis Farina, one of Hollywood's busiest actors and a familiar face to moviegoers and television viewers, joins the esteemed cast of NBC’s venerable “Law & Order.” He will portray New York City Police Detective Joe Fontana.

Farina has been working as an actor for 20 years. His upcoming projects include the Fox feature “Paparazzi” and he plays a cheesy womanizer and gym owner opposite an all-star cast in HBO’s upcoming “Empire Falls,” with fellow stars Helen Hunt, Ed Harris, Paul Newman, and Robin Wright-Penn.

In recent years, Farina starred on the series “The In-Laws,” and co-starred with Brad Pitt and Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro in the darkly comedic crime drama “Snatch.” He reunited with "Get Shorty" director Barry Sonnenfeld to play a “seatbelt challenged” hit man in Touchstone’s comedy "Big Trouble" and teamed up with Jason Lee in Bruce McCullough’s “Stealing Harvard.”

Farina also re-teamed in “Sidewalks of New York” with his "Saving Private Ryan" co-star Ed Burns.

Farina is also known for his role in Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight," as the retired lawman/father of Jennifer Lopez’ character. This was Farina's second outing in an Elmore Leonard best-seller adaptation, following "Get Shorty," directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and co-starring John Travolta. As a result, he received an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male for his performance as “Ray ‘Bones’ Barboni.” In 1998's "Saving Private Ryan," Farina played Colonel Anderson, a pivotal character in the film who convinces Tom Hanks’ character to lead a squad deep into Nazi territory.

Farina's numerous other screen credits include John Frankenheimer’s "Reindeer Games," "The Mod Squad," Martin Brest’s "Midnight Run," "Little Big League," "Striking Distance," "Another Stakeout," and two Michael Mann films -- "Manhunter" and "Thief" (the latter marked Farina’s film debut).

Farina also starred in two television drama series: "Buddy Faro" and NBC’s "Crime Story" (created by long-time collaborator Mann). He also appeared in the Emmy-nominated "The Drug Wars: Colombia."

As a veteran of the Chicago theater, Farina has appeared in Joseph Mantegna's "Bleacher Bums," "A Prayer For My Daughter," “A Class Three Trial in Yokohama,” “The Time of Your Life,” “Heat,” “Streamers” and “Tracers” (a Joseph Jefferson Award Winner for Best Ensemble), among others.

"I look forward to the challenge of creating a new character for Dick Wolf and ‘Law and Order,’" says Chicago-native Farina. “The only downside is that I won't see enough Cubs and Bears games."

I like him, the character I mean. His got a nice good attitude. The actor is great as well. I've seen him in The Mod Squad and liked his style in that. I think he is going to fit in good on the show. :)

Yeah, he's not bad, so far. I don't remember him in his other roles, and although he is no Briscoe, I think he'll fit in good at L&O.

I like Fontana. I think he's interesting, and he'll be good for L&O. He reminds me of Burt Reynolds for some reason, though. :lol:

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Originally posted by bballplayer30
He reminds me of Burt Reynolds for some reason, though. :lol:

:lol: Now that I think about it, he reminds me of Burt as well.

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although he is no Briscoe

No one could even try to really fill Briscoe's shoes.

Here's Dennis Farina's page at imdb.com. The only movies on the list I remember seeing are Midnight Run and Little Big League.

I haven't had a chance to see last Wednesday's episodes yet so I can't say yet if I like his character. Hopefully I'll catch up on Sunday.

I thought he fit in fairly well. He seemed like a good match for Ed. I've never seen him in anything else before though.

I've never seen any of his movies other than Little Big League, and I don't remember it very well. I'm excited to see that he's going to be in Empire Falls, though. I loved that book. :D

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I thought he fit in fairly well. He seemed like a good match for Ed.

I think he's a good match too. He's not like Briscoe, but he seemed to find his place easily. I think he'll be an interesting character to watch develop.

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Originally posted by bballplayer30
I think he'll be an interesting character to watch develop.

It definitely will be, especially to see how well he and Ed jell together.

He's already butting heads with Van Buren :lol: And he was late on his first day! Hhm...we'll see. The fact that Van Buren told Ed that she "had no choice" in hiring him was pretty funny.

The jury, consisting of my twelve clones ;), is still out on Detective Fontana. I haven’t seen enough to form an opinion. In fact, right now all I have is questions. Why was he late the first day? How does he get the money for trips to Rome, $300 shirts and that car? When he left Green at the bar in the premiere episode, where did he go? What problem existed between him and his former supervisor? Oy, I feel like a contestant on Jeopardy!

Yeah, there's a lot we don't know about Fontana. I kind of like it, and hope they don't delve into his personal life too much, just because it's interesting to wonder and hypothesize about him. It's all very enigmatic. ;)

Here's an article I found on the internet today about Farina: Farina's Career Revived on 'Law & Order'. I like that he brings added realism to the show.

Thanks for that article. I never really thought about it, but his being an ex-police officer does help add realism to the show.

Here's another article about Dennis Farina: Dennis Farina New Face on 'Law & Order'. He seems to be the only one getting press these days.