'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 (screenplay)

Stars:

Drea de Matteo, Lillo Brancato, Lisa Valens

2 wins & 2 nominations.

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
Janis Corsair	...	Shopper 1
Gloria Irizarry	...	Aunt
Naomi Morales	...	The Niece
Andrew Fiscella	...	Accomplice No. 1 (as Andy Fiscella)
Thomas Murray	...	Accomplice No. 2
Edwin Martinez	...	Accomplice No. 3 (as Edwin 'Eddie' Martinez)
Anne Ackerman	...	Shopper No. 2
John Robert Tramutola	...	Child Scrooge (as John R. Tramatola III)
Meredith Ostrom	...	Elfie

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:

mini dress | blonde woman | short dress | corrupt cop | pig | 

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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

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

FRF 453,110 (France), 1 January 2002, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$850, 10 November 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$850

Company Credits

Production Co:

Valence Films Inc.,Barnholtz Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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

Humanization of Drug Dealers – A Deceptive Abel Ferrara's Movie

In New York, in a morning close to Christmas, an upper class father and mother go in their BMW to a private school to see the play of their daughter. Then they go shopping and later they return to their fancy apartment in Manhattan. In the night, they move to a simple apartment in a dangerous neighborhood, where they prepare drugs for distribution. On the Christmas Eve, while buying the Christmas gift for their daughter, the father is kidnapped, and his wife desperately tries to raise a high amount of money to pay the requested ransom. "R Xmas" is a deceptive movie of Abel Ferrara. The lead characters do not have names, are anonymous, and maybe his intention is to tell that in the breast of a neighbor family in your building may have drug dealers; or that drug dealers may also have families and may be loving persons; or that there are many dirty cops, probably worse than the criminals; or is it a simple apology to crime? Whatever! However, this humanization of criminals is a horrible message, and I really did not like this movie. In Brazil, for example, many drug dealers and criminals help their communities, due to the absence of the State in poor areas and slums, but this procedure does not make them model citizen. In this movie, we see a loving upper class family in the day, providing drugs as means of living, but the destruction of the members of other families is not shown in the story, and it is impossible to feel sympathy for any characters. In the end, I wished all of them dead. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Gangues do Gueto" ("Gangs of the Ghetto")