'R Xmas (2001)

A New York drug dealer is kidnapped, and his wife must try to come up with the money and drugs to free him from his abductors before Christmas.

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writers:

Cassandra De Jesus (story), Abel Ferrara,

Stars:

Drea de Matteo, Lillo Brancato, Lisa Valens

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Drea de Matteo	...	The Wife
Lillo Brancato	...	The Husband (as Lillo Brancato Jr.)
Lisa Valens	...	Lisa, the Daughter
Ice-T	...	The Kidnapper
Victor Argo	...	Louie
Denia Brache	...	Louie's Wife
Gloria Irizarry	...	Aunt
Naomi Morales	...	The Niece
Nelson Vasquez	...	Niece's Husband
Andrew Fiscella	...	Accomplice No. 1 (as Andy Fiscella)
Thomas Murray	...	Accomplice No. 2
Edwin Martinez	...	Accomplice No. 3
Janis Corsair	...	Shopper No. 1
Anne Ackerman	...	Shopper No. 2
Frank Cuervo	...	Bike Pick Up Man (as Frank Antonio 'Anthony' Cuervo)

Storyline

It's a few days before Christmas, and a Latin American couple living in New York City are preparing and packaging their heroin for street distribution. While the wife has her qualms about the ethics of drug dealing, both she and her husband know there's plenty of money to be made in the drug trade. The couple discovers one of their lower-level dealers may be talking to the police, but they soon have a bigger problem to deal with when the husband is kidnapped and held for a huge ransom.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | drug | new york | new york city | heroin | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, drug content and some violence

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 December 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Christmas

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Valence Films Inc., Barnholtz Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2001 (#10)

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Connections

Referenced in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (2004)

User Reviews

The perfect xmas movie for modern America

Ferrara does not know how to make an uninteresting movie. Whatever you think of the content of his films, everything he does is a stylish, riveting exercise in visual story telling. This movie is no exception. There's surprisingly little dialogue, but what there is sings with a sense of modern city life. The aural and visual atmosphere of New York City, both upscale and downscale, is rich and multi-layered, and the characters seem like people you've seen on the street, or in stores, or in clubs, many many times. I don't know how "real" the action of this movie might be, but it seems as real and believable to me as anything I've seen on screen in a good long while. This is the perfect holiday movie for 21st century America, and a near-ideal expression of the meaning of modern Christmas.