Sucker Free City (2004) (TV)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Alex Tse (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 2009 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

On these streets, everybody's got a gang.

Plot:

Sucker-Free City, or S.F.C., revolves around the conflicts among white, black, Latino and Asian street gangs in San Francisco.

Plot Keywords:

Ghetto

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Ben Crowley	...	Nick Wade
Ken Leung	...	Lincoln Ma
Anthony Mackie	...	K-Luv
Darris Love	...	Sleepy
Laura Allen	...	Samantha Wade
T.V. Carpio	...	Angela Tsing
Kathy Baker	...	Cleo Wade
James Hong	...	Kwok
Lamont Bentley	...	Ahmir
Ewan Chung	...	Edwin Leong
Omari Hardwick	...	Dante Ponce
Marguerite Moreau	...	Jessica Epstein
Judy Pace	...	Mama June
Eyal Podell	...	Stephan Cashen
Stanford Chase	...	Peter Wu (as Stanford Poon)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, pervasive language, drug content and some sexual material.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | USA:R | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Movie Connections:

Features To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Wow! I was very pleasantly surprised!

A 2.0 overall (which is what it was when I looked at it on IMDb), does not do this film justice. My ranking is an 8.

When I read this was a pilot for a series, I was not expecting much, but I'd heard good things about it, and, since I sometimes feel that I'm one of the last Spike Lee fans standing, I thought I'd give it a look.

What I saw was terrific characters in intelligent settings, a well-written script, well-acted for the most part (hey, these are kids). I really cared about the characters and want to know more ... but I guess the series was not picked up. Wonder why? Spike Lee has done a great job of giving us his version of the gritty reality of San Franciso ganglife.

I'm no expert on this subject by any means, but I did find the stories quite engaging. And the characters are all likable, in a weird way, from the sober, intelligent K-Luv, to the displaced, entrepreneurial Nick, to the confused but commanding Peter, all ambitious and ruthless. We must imagine how we would react to our surroundings if we were in their shoes. It's easy to sit on a highhorse and judge these guys, but would we really be any different?

The camera-work was phenomenal, with an earthy, videotape feel at times, and a cinematic one at others -- always appropriate. If you have an HD television, Showtime is showing it thus, and it looks remarkable.

Catch it if you can.