A former history major who switched to film after losing faith in the academic life, Alan Taylor scored critical approval with his first feature, "Palookaville" (1995), about three young men in Jersey City, NJ, mired in great-rich-quick schemes. Made in association with American Playhouse, the film, which won the Kodak Award at the Venice Film Festival, owed its inspiration to short stories by Italian writer Italo Calvini as well as several classic films, notably "Big Deal on Madonna Street" (1958). Taylor demonstrated his helming skills by negotiating the fine line between absurdist deadpan
