This film by Sean Baker pre-dates his better known "Tangerine" and "Starlet", but shares many of those films' considerable strengths. Baker finds a way to make films about those on the very edge of society – transsexual hookers in "Tangerine", a druggy porn star in "Starlet", hustlers selling counterfeit bags and clothing on the streets of New York here, and present their lives with compassion, empathy and – surprisingly – tremendous amounts of humor.
Baker neither judges nor condescends. These are flawed and screwed up people – like all of us – and they have great qualities, like strength, resilience and smarts like all of us too. And for all the laughs he finds in their idiosyncratic worlds and situations, it never feels like he's laughing AT these struggling folks on the margins. Baker just sees that life can be funny and people can be funny – even when circumstances are tough.
As always he gets terrific performances from a mix of pros and non-actors, who also collaborated on the dialogue (in some ways Baker seems a bit of an American Mike Leigh).
For 'Prince of Broadway' the basic plot is be a bit more familiar and predictable than some of his films: An old girl friend shows up at struggling illegal black immigrant Lucky's door and drops off a 2 year old boy, claiming that Lucky is the father, and that she's be back in 2 weeks to get him back. It's not much of a spoiler to say the kid stays longer than 2 weeks, and despite all Lucky's efforts to the contrary, he starts to bond with the boy who may or may not be his son.
But the plot here is secondary to the wonderful moment by moment human interactions. Prince Adu is terrific as Lucky. A big, tough looking guy with a terribly soft heart, Lucky is prone to freak outs and weeping as he realizes how in over his head he is in dealing with this child -- and with life in general. His best friend is his boss Levon, a white Armenian guy who runs a shop selling counterfeit and/or stolen merchandise, but who seems to genuinely care for Lucky and his fellow workers, as well as his regular customers – and who is struggling through his own painfully rocky marriage. These three form the center of the story, and a number of very well drawn supporting characters spiral off from there.
The film looks like it was made for about $25, and the end credits show the crew to be tiny, but Baker is expert at making the low-budget rough edges of his films work in their favor, using the low tech filming style to feed a sense of near documentary honesty – without falling into the now common trap of trying to make it feel literally like a documentary. The film may be messy and loose, but it's also clear Baker is thinking about where his camera goes and about telling a story visually as well as through great performances and terrific writing.
With each film by Baker I see I like him and his body of work more. Here's a guy who wants to tell the stories of the people that Hollywood and TV ignores, and does it with tons of heart, humor and smarts. Whatever minor flaws it might have, it's very much worth seeing.
Baker neither judges nor condescends. These are flawed and screwed up people – like all of us – and they have great qualities, like strength, resilience and smarts like all of us too. And for all the laughs he finds in their idiosyncratic worlds and situations, it never feels like he's laughing AT these struggling folks on the margins. Baker just sees that life can be funny and people can be funny – even when circumstances are tough.
As always he gets terrific performances from a mix of pros and non-actors, who also collaborated on the dialogue (in some ways Baker seems a bit of an American Mike Leigh).
For 'Prince of Broadway' the basic plot is be a bit more familiar and predictable than some of his films: An old girl friend shows up at struggling illegal black immigrant Lucky's door and drops off a 2 year old boy, claiming that Lucky is the father, and that she's be back in 2 weeks to get him back. It's not much of a spoiler to say the kid stays longer than 2 weeks, and despite all Lucky's efforts to the contrary, he starts to bond with the boy who may or may not be his son.
But the plot here is secondary to the wonderful moment by moment human interactions. Prince Adu is terrific as Lucky. A big, tough looking guy with a terribly soft heart, Lucky is prone to freak outs and weeping as he realizes how in over his head he is in dealing with this child -- and with life in general. His best friend is his boss Levon, a white Armenian guy who runs a shop selling counterfeit and/or stolen merchandise, but who seems to genuinely care for Lucky and his fellow workers, as well as his regular customers – and who is struggling through his own painfully rocky marriage. These three form the center of the story, and a number of very well drawn supporting characters spiral off from there.
The film looks like it was made for about $25, and the end credits show the crew to be tiny, but Baker is expert at making the low-budget rough edges of his films work in their favor, using the low tech filming style to feed a sense of near documentary honesty – without falling into the now common trap of trying to make it feel literally like a documentary. The film may be messy and loose, but it's also clear Baker is thinking about where his camera goes and about telling a story visually as well as through great performances and terrific writing.
With each film by Baker I see I like him and his body of work more. Here's a guy who wants to tell the stories of the people that Hollywood and TV ignores, and does it with tons of heart, humor and smarts. Whatever minor flaws it might have, it's very much worth seeing.