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Cast: Kerry Washington, Victor Rasuk, Evan Ross, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Illeana Douglas, Richard Portnow, Lara Flynn Boyle, Shannyn Sossamon, RZA, Tony Plana, Edoardo Ballerini, Desmond Harrington, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Carmine Giovinazzo, Brandon Routh, Mark Webber
"Life Is Hot in Cracktown" shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday. Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married. 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 his sick infant son and makes their grimy rundown apartment as much of a home as she can. Willy, ten years old, lives in the Welfare hotel with his sister, mother (Illeana Douglas) and her violent boyfriend. Willy begs on the street so he and Susie can buy some fast food to eat. Romeo (Evan Ross), a street tough, 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. These four stories come together in a powerful climax of love and salvation, showing that despite the obstacles of life in the inner-city, humanity and hope can still prevail.
Any time you get a movie dealing with drugs it can be hard to watch at times because lets face it drugs are not a good thing and they ruin people's lives. This is one of those movies, the film opens with a rape scene and if that isn't disturbing enough it gets worse from there. What I mean by worse is the nature of the film, it takes a look at four groups of characters in their day to day struggles in a drug/hooker infested neighborhood. Sad and disturbing, these not not easy people to like but the reality of it all is that this is going on as I type in some neighborhood in some city. This is a hard-hitting drama that not only replies of the grim story but also the characters and they are all well-written and very realistic. The cast is incredible but I cannot pick any one actor that I thought stole the show here. Each and everyone in this film including the kids did a fantastic job but a few actors that stood out for me were, Kerry Washington, Victor Rasuk and Evan Ross. If you like movies like "Crash" I recommend taking a look at this but be prepared this film is not your typical sugar-coated Hollywood flick. Life is Hot in Cracktown takes a tough subject and presents it in a realistic and in your face way that grabs you by the throat and never lets go. If your looking for something light then best to avoid this but if you want a film that pulls no punches with its dramatic theme then I got to say that this is a must own film that is certainly depressing but at the same time it is thought-provoking and highly entertaining.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment. **** Out Of *****