Prince of Broadway (2008) User Reviews (4)

Very very good, very engrossing, touching

[tredline80 · 8/10 · 9 December 2008]

I am so please to be able to comment on this film. I was afraid because due to the subject matter I thought I might be ready to see a two hour film on immigration, but I was happily surprised. It did not matter so much where the lead characters were from, it was a very human story that Prince of Broadway told. I feel it went beyond race/colour lines.

Lucky a NYC street hustler, gets an unwelcome surprise when a girl drops off a baby that may or may not be his. From there we follow him as goes through denial to acceptance, growing on us the audience who see him as more than just another hustler. The lead actor as Lucky is just wonderful, he seems so real, you never feel that he is acting. His interaction with the child is so real especially as he realizes being daddy isn't that easy. Another standout character is his boss, another immigrant, both of them interesting as they try to carve out their piece of the American dream the ''get yours" way of thinking but not in a distastful way even though what they do is technically illegal.

I found some scenes to seem less real. Lucky's fight with his boys over the possibility they stole from him is good, because you see he is near a breakdown, but it goes on long, a real street fight would have gotten dirtier faster. the mother of the child with her mother is a dissppointment. I was hoping this girl would prove herself to be more than a mouthy ignorant child herself, but her character was the cliché bad mom from the hood. Her mother's character was worse, I did not feel sympathy because even though the mother saw her grandchild with some man who maybe is the father, maybe not, and she allowed her grandchild to be carried away like some trash by him? And she lectrues her own daughter? It did not hold up. It seemed the female characters, with the exception of Lucky's girl, were not portrayed with as much attention as the male ones. The boss's wife was just a lot of nothing, you did not know why he cared about her, maybe that was the point, to see he hangs on to her because he has nothing else? But she was not appealing, she either screamed or mumbled, seemed very amateur, again maybe that was the point, but it took away from the more interesting storyline.

But no movie is perfect, and I liked this film so much and thought it had an important message, I hope that it is seen by more people especially younger ones.

Another big hearted, funny, touching view of society's outsiders from Sean Baker

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 19 May 2017]

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.

Talk about raising the bar...Bows down to Sean Baker and his crew.

[available-7 · 10/10 · 30 October 2011]

This is not a movie, it is a masterpiece!

The sense of realism was captured beautifully throughout. The characters and the story most people can relate to in real life, but, to capture it as well as it was, well it deserves full credit. The timing of the camera work was superb.

I refuse to call this a movie, more like a captured moment in someones life. Even the way it ended left you thinking.

As always I try not to read reviews or watch trailers about the movie or it's characters so to me this was quite a surprise to watch something so unique.

Thank you very much.

Amazing!

[Vodun-Delights · 10/10 · 13 December 2012]

This was one of the great surprises you can have when renting out what proves to be a real "sleeper".

The acting was amazing, Prince Adu was absolutely brilliant and I just couldn't believe that this man had no former experience as an actor. I'm fairly convinced that we will see much more of this man in the future.

In fact, it was almost as much fun to watch the specials and to get to experience the story behind this film as it was watching the movie itself.

The story is multi-faceted, deeply engaging and warmhearted.

There is a lot of truth in this movie and as somebody who has spent over 8 years living in NYC, it opens your eyes to what rich stories this city has to tell.

This movie is one of those rare examples where you sense that while they shot it, everything just fell into place perfectly. There is something truly magic about The Prince Of Broadway.