Main Cast: Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes
Release Year: 1990
Country: US/IT
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The gritty underbelly of New York's complex, ethnically divided criminal world is exposed in this dark drama from director Abel Ferrara. Christopher Walken stars as Frank White, a drug lord who's just been released from a long stint in prison. Aware that feeding off of society's depravity has made him a wealthy man, Frank has become determined to give something back to the city, and he hatches a scheme to build a multimillion-dollar public hospital in one of Brooklyn's worst ghetto neighborhoods. Needing the assistance of his fellow criminals to pull it off, Frank and his adjutant Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne) encounter a wall of resistance from every faction, including drug-trade partner Lance Wong (Joey Chin) and temperamental cop Dennis Gilley (David Caruso). Frank's do-gooder efforts ultimately result in a Mob war and in a bloody showdown between the city's various ethnic criminal actions. Ferrara followed King of New York with a similarly themed film that many critics considered his masterpiece, Bad Lieutenant (1992). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
With The King of New York, Abel Ferrara takes what could have been a run-of-the-mill shoot-em-up and comes up with a study of inner-city morality. Much like he would do a year later with his masterpiece Bad Lieutenant, Ferrara refuses to let the good guys and bad guys be black and white. Instead, he fills their violent world with grays, seeing the criminals in a sympathetic light and turning a critical eye on the police. Christopher Walken plays Frank White, a drug kingpin whose idea of helping out the neighborhood kids is recruiting subway muggers to become drug dealers while financing a neglected hospital. He takes out rival gangs not to further his business, but because he doesn't like the way others run theirs. His attitude: the drugs are out there, why don't I make a little money off that and help out the city in the process. This doesn't jive with the local cops, particularly Dennis Gilley played by David Caruso. Dennis is a bitter flatfoot who's sick of money floating Frank above the law. He takes matters into his own hands only to see his illegal crusade of street justice go disastrously wrong. The script sometimes underestimates the audience and goes out of the way to connect the dots, but it's still a wild ride. The hidden gem of the film is Laurence Fishburne as Frank's number one guy Jimmy Jump. An appropriate name, for he literally bounces off the walls and cackles hysterically while slicing people down in a spray of bullets. Coming out at the close of the "Just Say No" '80s, The King of New York took a refreshing look at the war on drugs and how it effects the soldiers on the front line. ~ Scott Engel, All Movie Guide
Janet Julian - Jennifer Poe; Joey Chin - Larry Wong; Giancarlo Esposito - Lance; Paul Calderon - Joey Dalesio; Steve Buscemi - Test Tube; Theresa Randle - Raye; Leonard Thomas - Blood; Roger Guenveur Smith - Tanner; Carrie Nygren - Melanie; Freddie Jackson; Sari Chang - Special Appearance; Vanessa Angel - British Female; Phoebe Legere - Bordello Woman; Pete Hamill - Special Appearance; Frank Adonis - Paul Calgari; Ariane - Special Appearance; Erica Gimpel - Dr. Shute; Frank Gio - Arty Clay; Jack Goode, Jr. - Palladium Patron; Michael Guess - Carter; Robert La Sardo - Italian Guard; James Lorinz - Tip Connoly; Gary Landon Mills - Chilly; Gerard Murphy - Mulligan; Wendell Sweda - Man at Breakfast Table; Peter Richardson - Emperor Jones; Ernest Abuba - King Tito; Nancy Hunter - Millie; Harold Perrineau, Jr. - Thug Leader; Randall Sabusawa
Credit
Stephanie Ziemer - Art Director, Randall Sabusawa - Associate Producer, Chris Andrews - Consultant/advisor, John P. McIntyre - Consultant/advisor, Carol Ramsey - Costume Designer, Abel Ferrara - Director, Anthony Redman - Editor, Vittorio Squillante - Executive Producer, Jay Julien - Executive Producer, Joe Delia - Composer (Music Score), Alex Tavoularis - Production Designer, Bojan Bazelli - Cinematographer, Mary Kane - Producer, Sonja Roth - Set Designer, Matt Vogel - Special Effects, Phil Neilson - Stunts, Hugh A. O'Brien - Stunts, Nicholas St. John - Screenwriter
