''Rooftops'' is a 1989 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

musical drama film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...

, which follows the misadventures of two homeless teenagers in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. ''Rooftops'' was the last theatrical motion picture directed by Wise and the second of his films about poor young New Yorkers, the first being the famous ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''.

Plot

Squeak, the main character's best friend has tagged the wrong place and a local crew of misfits seeks to teach him a lesson. A chase ensues through the streets of New York City, through abandoned buildings and on rooftops. Squeak is finally cornered before his best friend and the film's main hero, T, comes to his rescue. The rest of the film focuses on T and his group of friends, among them a reformed prostitute, a young woman, and a deaf

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. T is famous among the neighbourhood for taking place in a dance called "combat" in which "combatants" attempt to force each other off of a square fighting surface through only intimidation, no contact is allowed. T falls in love with Elana and she reciprocates his feelings. T is also exposed to

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

, which he naturally compares to his own fighting style. The main antagonists are a group of drug dealers who are slowly taking over the city's abandoned buildings, stringing out the local youth and establishing themselves as the law of the streets. Squeak crosses the drug dealers and pays for it with his life. The rest of the movie follows T and his friends quest for redemption at the hands of the drug dealers, and ends in a climactic rooftop battle.

Cast

Jason Gedrick Jason Michael Gedrick is an American actor. He is best known for his work on the television series '' Murder One'' and ''Boomtown'', and the motion picture ''Iron Eagle'' as Doug Masters. He starred in the 2001 film '' Summer Catch'' as Mike ...

as "T" *

Troy Beyer Troy Byer is an American psychologist, author, director, screenwriter, and actress. For most of her acting career she was credited as Troy Beyer. Early life and education Byer was born in New York City to an African-American mother and Jewish ...

as Elena *

Eddie Velez Edwin Velez (born June 4, 1958) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for playing Frankie Santana in the final season of the American action and adventure television series ''The A-Team''. Early life and education ...

as "Lobo" *

Tisha Campbell Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the NBC musical comedy drama ''Rags to ...

as Amber *

Alexis Cruz Alexis Cruz (born September 29, 1974) is an American actor, known for his performances as Rafael in '' Touched by an Angel'' and as Skaara in ''Stargate'' and ''Stargate SG-1''. Biography Cruz was born in The Bronx of Puerto Rican descent. His m ...

as "Squeak" *

Allen Payne Allen Payne (born July 7, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Jason Alexander in the 1994 drama film ''Jason's Lyric'', as well as his portrayal of C.J. Payne on the family sitcom '' Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' (2006� ...

as Kadim * Steve Love as Jackie "Sky" * Rafael Baez as Raphael * Jaime Tirelli as Officer Rivera *

Luis Guzmán Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's films ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Magnolia (film), Magn ...

as Martinez * Millie Tirelli as Squeak's Mother *

Robert LaSardo Robert LaSardo (born September 20, 1963) is an American character actor. Early life LaSardo was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and is of Puerto Rican and Italian-American He began his career studying at the High School of Performing Arts in N ...

as "Blade" * Jay Boryea as Willie *

Rockets Redglare Rockets Redglare (born Michael Morra; May 8, 1949 – May 28, 2001) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared in over 30 films in the 1980s and 1990s, including a number of independent films and mainstream films, such as ...

as Carlos * Edouard DeSoto as Angelo * Bruce Smolanoff as "Bones" *

Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy ''Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman' ...

as Jimmy * Edythe Jason as Lois *

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, winning an Obie Award, and gained recognition for her role in '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993). On television, she is known for her roles in the NBC sitcom ''Fri ...

as Audry * Stuart Rudin as Wino * Coley Wallace as Lester * Herb Kerr as Jorge * Peter Lopez as "Burn" * Kurt Lott as "Zit" * Jed James as "X"

Critical reception

The film was not well-received by critics. The film has a composite score of 10% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

from 20 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

opined that the film was unrealistic and sugarcoated the grim realities facing homeless teenagers.

Soundtrack

The music credits included the title song "Rooftops" performed by

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. B ...

, " Avenue D," performed by

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

, featuring David A. Stewart, and Bullet Proof Heart, written and produced by

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

.Jet - Mar 27, 1989 - Page 56 Vol. 75, No. 25 Directed by Robert Wise. The many music credits include the title song Rooftops performed by Jeffrey Osborne Avenue D performed by Etta James featuring David A. Stewart and Bullet Proof Heart written and produced by Grace Jones.

Home media release

''Rooftops'' was first released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1989 by International Video Entertainment. Platinum Disc released the film onto DVD in 2002, but the DVD was in full screen and did not contain any bonus material. That DVD has since been discontinued. The current DVD is a double feature release with ''

A Midsummer Night's Rave ''A Midsummer Night's Rave'' is a 2002 American film adapted from Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' released on November 1, 2002. The film stars Corey Pearson, Lauren German, Andrew Keegan, Chad Lindberg, and Sunny Mabrey; and was d ...

.''

References

External links

* {{Robert Wise 1989 films 1989 drama films 1980s musical drama films American dance films American independent films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films Films about homelessness Films directed by Robert Wise Films scored by Michael Kamen Films set in Manhattan Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by Allan A. Goldstein 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language musical drama films 1989 musical films