BEFORE: From the convict Cool Hand Luke to the ex-con Carlito Brigante - I've got time for one more crime/cops chain before I go on break. Linking from "Cool Hand Luke", Harry Dean Stanton had a small role in "The Godfather Part 2" with Al Pacino (last seen in "Scent of a Woman").
THE PLOT: A Puerto-Rican ex-con, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him.
AFTER: Speaking of influential movies, this one played a large role in determining the look and feel of the "Grand Theft Auto" video games, particularly "GTA: Vice City". The lawyer character here, played by Sean Penn (last seen in "I Am Sam") was a direct influence on the Ken Rosenberg character in that game.
In terms of plot, though, there's not much that happens here - a man gets out of prison, runs a nightclub and tries to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. But every time he tries to get out of the gangster lifestyle, they pull him back in. This film somehow found a way to make drug-dealing and loansharking boring (so the kids at home won't find that lifestyle appealing?).
That is, until Penn's character has a big idea, and a job that also looks and feels like a mission out of a video-game. The fallout from that at least makes the second half of the film exciting and filled with tension.
Nice appearance of the Waverly Theater on 6th Ave. and West 4th St. in Manhattan, back before it was the IFC Center. And I'd swear that subway stop is the 4th Ave./9th St. station on the Brooklyn F line, even though the sign reads 125th St. and an A train pulls up.
NITPICK POINT: Any New Yorker knows you don't catch an Amtrak to Miami from Grand Central Station, you get the Amtrak trains from Penn Station.
Also starring Penelope Ann Miller (last seen in "The Freshman"), Luis Guzman (last seen in "Family Business"), John Leguizamo (last seen in "Repo Men"), with cameos from James Rebhorn (last seen in "Baby Mama"), Viggo Mortensen (last seen in "Crimson Tide"), Adrian Pasdar (last seen in "Top Gun"), Paul Mazursky (last seen in "Man Trouble") and Marc Anthony (last seen in "Hackers").
RATING: 5 out of 10 bottles of champagne
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