The only good attraction of "Alphabet City" comes from the acting of the cast, specially leading man Vincent Spano playing a smart drug dealer
trying to save his family and friends lives while conducting some final businesses as his boss goes after him. The story tries to seduce us with the
urgency of an one night timespan where our hero runs all night through a dangerous part of New York ciy that goes by the film title.
Problem is that the film fails to connect us through the whole thing because there's not a good story to tell, with terrible character development and even worst action (if there was one). It tries to create a sort of mystery behind why this guy is being hunted when it could have reduced that element (explaining it sooner) and added the dangers and drama of it all as he find ways to his mother, his sister, his artist wife and their baby. The cryptic dialogues trying to sound complicated and accurate about criminality never fully convince.
Spano's acting makes the film tolerable as he has the charm and charisma to play a streetwise dealer who has his own set of rules to stay alive and help everybody he loves. He holds himself a lot before using of violence, unlike many men of his trade who has killing as their game. I enjoyed the performance not only because he carries the movie in a fine manner, but also it makes a nice contrast to his previous role as a shy buddy of a gang leader in "Rumble Fish". Seeing him in those roles is a testimony of his range, and makes one wonder why he wasn't a bigger star. Michael Winslow from the "Police Academy" franchise could also land a memorable role if the part was written with a heavier dramatic tone rather than the comedic, as he plays the dealer's best friend, a talkative street dealer who is also a junkie. They help each other when needed but he's always the one flying high in another dimension.
It was hard to like and hard to care over this one as everything moves in a strange manner, shifting between genres and never satisfying as a whole. For the life of me, I could not understand/see that whole business joint that the police raided (at first there was a house, then suddenly it's a whole building that leads to a labyrinth kind of place); neither couldn't see the sexy moment of the film since it's weirdly choreographed and badly lit. Besides its erratic presentation of everything, it doesn't show any new variation on the criminal world and its rules. It may be of some curiosity as it shows a different part of New York filled with poverty, misery and faceless cops as all kinds of crimes are committed. It isn't a total waste of time, but at times it sure feels like it. 4/10.
Problem is that the film fails to connect us through the whole thing because there's not a good story to tell, with terrible character development and even worst action (if there was one). It tries to create a sort of mystery behind why this guy is being hunted when it could have reduced that element (explaining it sooner) and added the dangers and drama of it all as he find ways to his mother, his sister, his artist wife and their baby. The cryptic dialogues trying to sound complicated and accurate about criminality never fully convince.
Spano's acting makes the film tolerable as he has the charm and charisma to play a streetwise dealer who has his own set of rules to stay alive and help everybody he loves. He holds himself a lot before using of violence, unlike many men of his trade who has killing as their game. I enjoyed the performance not only because he carries the movie in a fine manner, but also it makes a nice contrast to his previous role as a shy buddy of a gang leader in "Rumble Fish". Seeing him in those roles is a testimony of his range, and makes one wonder why he wasn't a bigger star. Michael Winslow from the "Police Academy" franchise could also land a memorable role if the part was written with a heavier dramatic tone rather than the comedic, as he plays the dealer's best friend, a talkative street dealer who is also a junkie. They help each other when needed but he's always the one flying high in another dimension.
It was hard to like and hard to care over this one as everything moves in a strange manner, shifting between genres and never satisfying as a whole. For the life of me, I could not understand/see that whole business joint that the police raided (at first there was a house, then suddenly it's a whole building that leads to a labyrinth kind of place); neither couldn't see the sexy moment of the film since it's weirdly choreographed and badly lit. Besides its erratic presentation of everything, it doesn't show any new variation on the criminal world and its rules. It may be of some curiosity as it shows a different part of New York filled with poverty, misery and faceless cops as all kinds of crimes are committed. It isn't a total waste of time, but at times it sure feels like it. 4/10.