Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009)

Various stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel "Life is Hot in Cracktown".

Director:

Buddy Giovinazzo

Writer:

Buddy Giovinazzo

Stars:

Evan Ross, Stephanie Lugo, Maurice Blake

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Evan Ross	...	Romeo
Stephanie Lugo	...	Debbie
Maurice Blake	...	Brazil
Omar Regan	...	Cremont
Jeffrey Lorenzo	...	Soby
Victor Rasuk	...	Manny
Tony Plana	...	Lou
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Betty McBain
Melissa Wilfley	...	Fay
Ten Travis	...	Ceasar
Shannyn Sossamon	...	Concetta
Gavin and Noah Enriquez	...	Ramon
Elena Franklin	...	Melody Amber
Marci Canipe	...	Melody's Mom
Quddus	...	Terrance (as Quddus Philippe)

Storyline

Various stories of how crack cocaine has infiltrated the inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel "Life is Hot in Cracktown".

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Plot Keywords:

crack cocaine | infant | violation | female rear nudity | street gang | 

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Taglines:

Be cool. You're so cool. Life is cool in Cracktown.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, rape, drug content throughout, graphic sexuality, nudity and pervasive language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Karmic Productions, Lodestar Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dude that robs Manny the first time is Carmine Giovinazzo (Detective Danny Messer from CSI: NY), cousin of the director, Buddy Giovinazzo.

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Quotes

Benny: Marybeth, I know what I am. Don't think for a second that I don't, 'cus I do. Like when I hear you and Ridley talking to some of the other girls, things yous able to talk about
[shrugs]
Benny: you're smart, you got schooling, you know things. Me, what do I know... I know that being with me must be like being with a retard. I look in the mirror sometimes, I wonder what you're doin with me. I know you do, too. When the day comes, you find somebody better, 'cus one day that will happen, I ain't gonna give...

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Episode #1.18 (2009)

User Reviews

Ignore vested interests whenever possible

Well, let's see. where do i start? If you listen to the negative reviews one might think this is a bad film.........when in fact, it is a very good movie......the only people that I can think of that might not have liked it may be crack dealers. If anyone wants to know what it might be like to use, sell, or have association with crack even without one's desire to; they should see this film. Crack life truly is dangerous, frenetic, unhealthy, and it twists people's relationships with each other; and yes, there can be cruelty, and mindlessness; rarely is there any lasting kindness. The people in the story are, by the nature of their involvement egocentric and self-centered of course; all using addicts are. It is the nature of the beast.

Someone said the characters didn't show any humanity. I didn't get that at all. I thought the authors demonstrated quite ably how their humanity was being destroyed by their addictions and their environment.

Some others criticized the fact that only the white characters were redeemed. I wonder if they actually watched the film? or that all the crack dealers were black; all the crack dealers were NOT black actually. The actual ethnic make-up of the population of crack dealers, while sad, is irrelevant and anyone who focused on that missed the point. In actuality the most important fact about the make-up of crack dealers is that they were originally poor and came from terribly corrupted neighborhoods.

Some reviewers claimed it was unrealistic because the transsexuals were too pretty; well. They weren't all too pretty, if they watched the film. I have to wonder if some of the people who judge the realism of a film from their personal life experience really have the experience they think they do. There is a vast difference between what one imagines, what one reads, what one hears, other films people think are realistic because they want them to be and real life experience. So. Be careful with their critical advice when it is clear they are having an episode of fantasy about their real life. Someone else complained about casting.......i can't imagine how hard it must be to cast any film but i would like to offer that compared to say, the new version of Pelham 123 for instance, this film is brilliantly cast.

One thing I think bothers me more than anything with this particular venue, by the way, is the strong possibility that some of these more ridiculous negative reviews may come from people who may have some vested interest in bad mouthing a particular piece of work because they are the competition, a jilted lover, a disgruntled former employee, an un-hired employee, or the multitude of other bad reasons people say terrible things about good efforts; sadly, it is just a part of human nature. Human nature, at it's worst, as demonstrated by some of the characters in this film.........maybe some who had such personal problems with this film see themselves too closely paralleled with some of the characters.

Anyway, I thought it was quite realistic, possibly a little too sanitized but it really isn't necessary to overwhelm an audience with too much of the horror of violence in respect to the characters situations to get the messages of this film across.

The best thing to do is see it for yourselves and make up your own mind........please bear in mind; I have no vested interest involved in this review as I have never worked in "Hollywood" or any other related occupation.