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starring: Jace Alexander, Angela Bassett, Chris Cooper, Anthony John Denison, Frankie Faison
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302376012
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
ISBN: 6302376017
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: September 12, 1995
Running Time: 130 minutes
Sales Rank: 13982
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1991
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Director John Sayles did the unthinkable and managed to sum up all the problems of urban life in one beautifully assembled jigsaw puzzle of a film. Combining characters from across all strata of one New Jersey city, he makes it clear that old-boy politics, corruption, and urban rage form an interlocking cage that seems to keep hope for the future locked away from our grasp. At heart, it's a story of fathers and sons, with sleazy contractor Tony Lo Bianco trying to reach out to son Vincent Spano, who wants none of his father's business. Add a racial incident, a mayor on the take, political activists, a black politician trying to balance what's right with what's expedient, and a gaggle of small-time crooks and you have a terrific, telling story of urban malaise, black and white, with a great cast that also includes Joe Morton, Angela Bassett, Chris Cooper, and Gina Gershon. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A big idea
Neither fans nor detractors seem to have a clue what this movie is about. The best window on the theme is Tierney's statement. Everyone does deals, gives and takes favors. That's not a lamentable fact of urban life. It's the reality for social creatures. That's enobling and tragic, and all of Sayles characters are in it. All except the autistic guy, who can only parrot another's cry for help. A brilliant explication of a fundamental truth of human existence.
Rating:  - Noble Effort
In this movie, ambition overreaches result, and the usually clear sighted John Sayles flounders. There are moments of brilliance, as when the camera turns sharply to pick up new threads in the sprawling interweave of city intrigue that composes the central theme. But the sprawl ultimately proves too unwieldy for even Sayles' considerable talent. I only wish he had succeeded. The backdoor machinery of city politics needs sensitive treatment of the kind Sayles can deliver. But the script falters and ... Read More
Rating:  - Slightly didactic, immensely powerful
Thouht this film does not connect with the seamless mastery of Lone Star or even Matewan, it has an undeniable haunting power, especially in its lengthy and distanced final image. The major flaw in this film, and in Sayles films in general, is his tendency to use the screenplay as a pulpit, creating characters and dialogue to make an often heavy handed statement. Take for example, the two griping women who complain that no one listens to them, or the militant Black Muslim. Fortunately, Sayles ... Read More
Rating: - Pay no attention to Maltin...
This film is every bit as good as the Amazon review says. Reminiscent in some ways of "Bonfire of The Vanities", it is a much, much better film than that one was, despite an obviously much lower-budget shooting. If you are a Cincinnatian, you will have a little bit of side-fun trying to identify many of the Cincinnati locales where much of this film was shot. It has a totally credible urban grittiness and one is not sure after the end of the film just how ironic the title was intended to be. Another ... Read More
Rating: - Sayles is a Master
I've seen several John Sayles films and have been more or less impressed with all of them. This finely wrought and under appreciated little treasure, though, is probably his most complex and evocative. It's a formidable task forging a coherent drama out of the loose ends of lives with which Sayles starts. All this done in the milieu of a corrupt city, tangled relationships and hopelessness. Even the humour is bleak. The enigmatic figure of Asteroid, a ... Read More
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