Festival
Empire
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With: John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Vincent Laresca, Delilah Cotto, Sonia Braga, Isabella Rossellini.
John Leguizamo is deadly serious and highly effective as Victor Rosa, a Latino drug dealer whose crew peddles a popular heroin mix (known as Empire) on the mean streets of the South Bronx. Through a classmate (Denise Richards) of his girlfriend (Delilah Cotto), Victor connects with Jack Wimmer (Peter Sarsgaard), a WASPy investment banker who openly admires Victor's entrepreneurial skill. Victor profits from one of Jack's ventures and borrows heavily from Latina drug kingpin La Columbiana (a miscast but game Isabella Rossellini) to invest in another. Unfortunately, Jack turns out to be more treacherous than any drug interloper. "Empire" traffics in easy ironies about amoral pursuits of the American Dream but scores a few provocative points about class-consciousness and moral relativism. Leguizamo manages a couple of genuinely poignant moments as Victor's bright new world of respectability falls apart. Tech package is adequate. Exploitable soundtrack includes cuts by Marc Anthony, Ludacris and Naughty by Nature.
Camera (color), Kramer Morgenthau; editor, Peter C. Frank; music, Ruben Blades; production designer, Ted Glass; art director, Frank White. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (American Showcase), Jan. 16, 2002. Running time: 95 MIN.
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