History Film / ThingsChange

* AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: After Gino wins a huge jackpot on a [[FixingTheGame rigged game]], Jerry tries to talk him into giving the money back, since it wouldn't be polite to take the money of their guests. Instead, Gino puts the money on a longshot bet on the no-limit Big Wheel. If he wins, he'll bankrupt the casino, but he misses by one number. When the wheel girl says she's sorry, Gino shrugs and says, "Things change."

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Gino is back to where he started as a poor and humble shoe-shiner. Jerry is expelled from the mafia and is now also destined for a life of poverty as Gino's assistant. However, they both escaped with their lives, they have one another's friendship, and for Jerry, there's honest (even if if low-paying and unglamorous) work.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: After Gino makes a phone call to Joseph Vincent, the next scene shows Gino seated in the courtroom with the mafiosi who made the deal with him in the audience. We think at at first that the most his phone call accomplished was [[spoiler: forcing Mr. Green to honor his deal instead of murdering Gino, and that Gino is now destined to spend the rest of his life in prison. Instead, we find out that Vincent's influenced spared Gino and forced Jerry's boss to take the fall and serve a 20 to life sentence.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: After Gino makes a phone call to Joseph Vincent, the next scene shows Gino seated in the courtroom with the mafiosi who made the deal with him in the audience. We think at at first that the most his phone call accomplished was [[spoiler: forcing Mr. Green to honor his deal rather than just murdering Gino, and that Gino is now destined to spend the rest of his life in prison. Instead, we find out that Vincent's influenced spared Gino and forced Jerry's boss to take the fall and serve a 20 to life sentence.]]

* MoodWhiplash: Although the scenes where Gino is mistaken for a powerful mob boss are funny, there's always a dark undercurrent due to the fact that both he and Jerry would probably be killed if the truth was revealed.

** MistakenForProfound: Gino's simple musings about the right way to shine shoes and his comments about his family are taken for metaphors about how to properly run an organized crime racket by Joseph Vincent and by the casino staff.

** There's also an element of MistakenForProfound, when Gino's simple musings about the right way to shine shoes and about his family are taken for metaphors about how to properly run an organized crime family by Joseph Vincent and by the casino staff.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: While Jerry is partly motivated by boredom, he also genuinely wants to show Gino a good time, but goes behind the mob's back to do so, which ultimately lands him in trouble. In the end, [[spoiler:he's banished from the mob to live with Gino as a humble cobbler]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Gino is back to where he started as a poor and humble shoe-shiner. Jerry is expelled from the mafia and is now also destined for a life of poverty as Gino's assistant. However, they both escaped with their lives, they have one another's friendship, and for Jerry, there's no honest if low-paying and less than glamourous work.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Mr. Green and the other gangsters in his circle (including the actual murderer) all get away with murder. The only one to face prison time is the mid-level gangster who supervises Jerry.

* NiceGuy: Gino is a nice guy, especially for a mobster. As you might expect, he's a particularly low-ranking mobster.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: While Jerry is partly motivated by boredom, he also genuinely wants to show Gino a good time, but goes behind the mob's back to do so, which ultimately lands him in trouble. In the end, [[spoiler:he's banished from the mob to live with Gino as a humble cobbler]].

* TheMafia: Jerry is an Italian immigrant who has made a deal with the Mafia, so Gino, an American mobster, is taking care of him until Jerry can deliver.

** There's also an element of MistakenForProfound, when Gino's simple musings about the right way to shine shoes and about his family are taken for metaphors about how to properly run an organized crime family by Joseph Vincent.

* ShoutOut: The story has much in common with ''Film/BeingThere'', another film where a simple, quiet man is mistaken for somebody of great importance. The main difference, of course, is that unlike Chauncey, Gino isn't mentally handicapped and knows how to play along with the deception to save himself and Jerry.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Gino is back to where he started as a poor and humble shoe-shiner. Jerry is no longer with the mafia and is also destined for a life of poverty. However, they both escaped with their lives, they have one another's friendship, and for Jerry, there's no honest if low-paying and less than glamourous work.]]