''Life Is Hot in Cracktown'' is a 2009

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

film based on Buddy Giovinazzo's 1993 collection of short stories with the same title. Giovinazzo directed and wrote the film.

Plot

The film intertwines several unsettling stories of people in a

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

neighborhood ravaged by crack cocaine.Four Dwell in "Cracktown": www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00007378.htmlSix Immigrating to "Cracktown": www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00007693.html Romeo, a 14-year-old criminal, is the leader of a gang. In the beginning of the movie, he lures his girlfriend, Debbie, to a secluded alley where he and another gang member gang rape her. He leads his gang into robbing and

torturing Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

a very sick pensioner, and then steps up to doing a murder-for-hire at the behest of a local drug dealer, unaware of the enormous risks. Manny and Concetta, a young couple, are desperately trying to rise out of poverty and care for their sick baby. Manny works two jobs—the front desk of a drug-riddled flop house by day and the cash register of a frequently-robbed bodega at night. Another young couple, Marybeth and Benny, are both drug addicts. Marybeth is a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

woman who makes a bit of money as a street prostitute to pay for surgery, and Benny is into very low-paying burglaries. Their principal source of drugs is a well-off trans person, Ridley, who is looking to follow in Marybeth's footsteps. Young Willy and younger Susie are the much-neglected children of an addict named Mommy, who makes them sleep on the floor of their one-room apartment. Mommy's current boyfriend, a hot-tempered addict named Chaz, makes the children beg on the street for his drug money. Willy's one bright spot is neighbor child Melody, whose mother pimps her out every night. When Chaz and Mommy leave the children behind while they embark on a drug-fueled quest to get more drug money from a relative of Chaz, Melody is picked up by the police. Willy, meanwhile, is sent on a wild goose chase by Betty, an aging prostitute who enjoys tormenting her neighbors.

Cast

Evan Ross Evan Olav Ross-Naess (born August 26, 1988), is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film '' ATL'' (2006), and has since starred in the films ''Pride'' (2007), ''According to Greta'' (2009), ''Mooz-lum'' ( ...

as Romeo *Stephanie Lugo as Debbie, Romeo's girlfriend *

Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon () is an American actress, director, and musician. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', '' The Rules of Attraction'' (both 2002), '' The Order'' (2003), ...

as Concetta a woman faced with the challenges of raising her sick child, wife of Manny *

Victor Rasuk Victor Rasuk (born January 15, 1984) is an American actor. Early life Rasuk was born in New York City, to Dominican parents. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father at an auto shop. He has one brother, actor Silvestre Rasuk, with whom ...

as her husband Manny, who supports Concetta and his baby by working the front desk of a drug-infested tenement building by day and an often-robbed bodega at night *

Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...

as a faded and cruel prostitute named Betty McBain *

Thomas Ian Nicholas Thomas Ian Nicholas (born July 10, 1980) is an American film actor, film producer and singer. Nicholas is best known for playing Henry Rowengartner in '' Rookie of the Year'', Walt Disney in ''Walt Before Mickey'' and Kevin Myers in the ''Ameri ...

as Chad Wesley a rookie cop *

Vondie Curtis-Hall Vondie Curtis-Hall is an American actor, screenwriter, film director, and television director. As an actor, he is known for his role as Dr. Dennis Hancock on the CBS medical drama ''Chicago Hope'' created by David E. Kelley and as Ben Urich in the ...

as street-toughened veteran cop *

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

as Marybeth/Mickey, a transsexual prostitute *

Desmond Harrington Desmond Harrington (born October 19, 1976) is an American actor. He has appeared in '' The Hole'' (2001), ''Ghost Ship'' (2002), and '' Wrong Turn'' (2003), Desmond joined the cast of the Showtime series '' Dexter'' in its third season, as D ...

as Benny, MaryBeth's "husband" * Mark Webber as Ridley/Gabrielle, a transgender prostitute and friend of MaryBeth *

Brandon Routh Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film '' Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of N ...

as Sizemore, a homeless drug addict who sometimes talks to Willy * RZA as a drug dealer named Sammy, who does business with Romeo *

Carly Pope Carly Pope (born August 28, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on The WB's drama series ''Popular'' (1999–2001), supernatural drama series ''The Collector'' (2004–2005), USA Network's legal drama series '' Suits'' ...

as Stacy *

Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...

as an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

man *

Ridge Canipe Ridge Canipe (born July 13, 1994) is an American actor. Ridge is best known for his roles in ''Walk the Line'' (in which he played Johnny Cash as a boy), the thriller '' Baby Blues'' in 2008 and the 2005 version of '' Bad News Bears''. He also ...

as Willy, the older brother of Susie *

Edoardo Ballerini Edoardo Ballerini (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor, narrator, writer, and film director. On screen he is best known for his work as junkie Corky Caporale in ''The Sopranos'' and the hotheaded chef in the indie film '' Dinner Rush'' (2 ...

as Chas, Mommy's abusive boyfriend *

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

as Mommy, the heavily addicted mother of Willy and Susie *Elena Franklin as Melody Amber *

Mayte Garcia Mayte Jannell Garcia (; born November 12, 1973) is an American dancer, actress and singer. She was married to Prince for four years and has worked with various music artists. Early life Garcia was born on November 12, 1973, at Fort Rucker, Al ...

as Murietta * Ariel Winter as Susie *

Omar Regan Omar Laquon Regan (born June 12, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and former musician. Early life Regan was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States and was raised in Highland Park, Michigan to African American parents. Regan did ...

as Cremont *Jeremy West as Mr. Rutherford, a crippled pensioner robbed by Romeo *Bryan Becker as Pepperton

Production

Director Buddy Giovinazzo revealed that originally the rape scene came twenty minutes into the film and the film opened in the bodega (convenience store).

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, life_is_hot_in_cracktown 2009 crime drama films American crime drama films Films directed by Buddy Giovinazzo Films about drugs Films about prostitution in the United States 2009 films 2009 LGBT-related films Films set in Manhattan Films about trans women 2000s English-language films 2000s American films