LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN (2009)
If I were to guess what kind of a movie this was, judging by its title, I´d go for a really, really crappy comedy starring the Wayans brothers. That´s about as far from the real thing as you can get because man, this is one harsh fucker of a film. If you think you´re in for a plain old “ghetto” movie, you are sorely mistaken. To be frank, this is one of the more brutal but also tender and beautiful films I´ve seen in a long time and it´s all thanks to the brilliance of writer-director Buddy Giovinazzo. He populates his film with characters that if you were to see them in any other movie, they would be the bad guys, the freaks, the ones that the audience are supposed to hate. But Giovinazzo doesn´t roll like that. Instead, that´s the characters that he zooms in on and they´re the ones we get to follow in their daily lives.
I don´t know about you but I live a pretty straight-laced life: I´ve got a job, an education, a girlfriend and an apartment. Like most of us, in this privileged part of the world. And like most of us, I reckon that I have some dreams and hopes for the future. We all do. Even the dope fiends you see sitting at the bus stops every now and then have that. But that´s something that you don´t think about too often but this is exactly what Giovinazzo has done with this movie: he´s asked himself “What are the dreams and hopes of these outcasts? What do the prostitutes´ lives look like when they leave their corner at the end of the day/night?”
Givonazzo builds his movie around a fairly large cast of characters. It sort of plays out like “Short Cuts” with crack-addicts. We get to follow Marybeth (Kerry Washington) who´s a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny (Desmond Harrington), a small time burglar. Manny (Victor Rasuk) works two jobs: the late shift in an all night bodega surrounded by young junkies, drug dealers and prostitutes, and as a security guard in a Welfare hotel. At home his wife, Concetta (Shannyn Sossamon), takes care of their sick infant son. Willy, ten years old, lives in the Welfare hotel with his sister, mother (Illeana Douglas) and her violent boyfriend. Romeo (Evan Ross), an up-and-coming street thug, roams the streets with his gang. Upset over the murder of his younger brother, and feeling partially responsible for not being there during the shooting, he terrorizes anyone who comes in his path.
As you might´ve noticed, this isn´t the feel-good movie of the year, ok? The fact that the opening scene shows us a girl being raped and then urinated on oughtta give you an idea that you´re in for a harsh ride. This is Buddy Giovinazzo serving up a main course of misery, mixed up with brutality, with a side order of tragedy, drug abuse and broken dreams. Those of you out there who remember his debut film, “Combat Shock” shouldn´t be too surprised. What sets this film apart from other “drug”-movies, such as the not-as-satisfying “Spun” is the fact that Giovinazzo hasn´t made this movie to titillate anybody and show them that “this is what life is all about in Cracktown. It can be pretty cool, so come on down”. Unlike many other films in this genre, this isn´t emotional pornography or misery for misery´s sake! Giovinazzo has a mission and that is to show us that even these outcasts of our society have dreams, hopes and that they pretty much want the same thing as we do: love, loyalty and friendship.
Christ, that was deep, huh? Did you get your handkerchief out there?
But that´s what I love about this film: that it shows us what these characters go through when they´re at home, after they´ve spent a day on the street turning tricks. And it´s not that different from our lives, except for pouring a glass of wine, they smoke some crack cocaine. Other than the choice of which drug we choose, it´s basically the same. And this realization is pretty moving at times.
Now, this wouldn´t be very moving at all, if Giovinazzo hadn´t managed to get some pretty great actors for this film. Illeana Douglas is great as the drug addicted mother, who wants to get her kids out of Cracktown but keeps drifting back into her addiction. Evan Ross is absolutely frightening as Romeo but the special gong for great acting has to go to Kerry Washington and Desmond Harrington as the couple, where she´s a pre-op transsexual. This is one of the more touching love stories I´ve seen in quite some time. Harrington does a great portrayal of a guy, who´s not necessarily gay but in love with this man who´s in the process of becoming a woman. The fact that Washington´s character is much more sophisticated and well versed in the ways of the world and very much aware of this, lends another layer of tragedy to the story. But Harrington really does a fantastic job at conveying how much he loves this person and the scene where he declares his love for her is pretty goddamn moving. There´s some fine, fine acting going on here.
I mean, their story alone would´ve made for a great movie but Giovinazzo throws it in there with three other equally as compelling story lines. There´s more going on, character-wise, in fifteen minutes of this film than in that entire fucker Michael Bay´s career. The fact that this movie feels frighteningly realistic only adds to its greatness. It´s obvious that Giovinazzo know these characters and loves them, as well. In any other movie, these characters would be nothing else than some sort of freakish-looking supporting character, but Giovinazzo puts them smack dab in the middle of things and treats them with the sort of dignity and compassion I haven´t seen before. And thanks to the great performances, the fact that most of these characters do pretty horrific things, you never once think of them as “bad guys”. That´s some pretty good writing for ya, I´d say, and this makes Giovinazzo the natural heir to Hubert Selby, JR:s legacy. Like Selby, he writes about tragic fates without it ever getting too sentimental or pitying them. This is kind of like “Last Exit to Brooklyn” for our century.
You know, ever since “Short Cuts” this type of movies with multiple storylines have been pretty popular and a sure-fire way to woo the critics. Robert Altman was the one who pioneered this genre with his masterpiece “Nashville” back in the 70´s and re-vitalized it with “Short Cuts” twenty years later. But since then there hasn´t been that many contributions to the genre that´s worth mentioning, except Paul Thomas Anderson´s masterpiece “Magnolia”. The thing I´m getting at is that I thought that this genre was as good as dead, especially since that awful “Crash” made its way into the Academy Awards with its heavy handed preaching of “We´re all connected” and “Racism is everywhere but we´re all humans”. That was it, I thought. Now, everything we´re gonna see are bad “Crash” rip off´s and I don´t wanna subject myself to that because the original was pretty damn crappy to begin with. That´s why this movie is such a breath of fresh air, it´s a goddamn speed injection into this genre´s arm, with its grittiness and realism. You see, Buddy Giovinazzo has the same message of humanism and empathy that that hack Paul Haggis hammered home with his “Crash”, only he does it in such an infinitely more interesting way. Eat that, Paul Haggis! This is the way you do it… and don´t you forget it. Giovinazzo proves with this movie that he is today´s #1 chronicler of modern society´s outcasts and their broken dreams and hopes. We need more filmmakers like that… And less like Paul Haggis.
Watch it. It´s a good one.
Until next time: take scare!
Thomas
Lovely. I’ll watch anything with Shannyn Sossamon
Just don´t watch “Catacombs”. I did and it kind of sucked. Unfortunately, she´s been in her fair share of crappy flicks. I shudder when I think of “Sin Eater” and “One Missed Call”. Fortunately, she was also in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “Rules of Attraction” so that kind of evens it out.