KING OF NEW YORK
(1990)
Directed by- Abel Ferrera
Written by- Nicholas St. John
*Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishborne, David Caruso, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Janet Julian
A beautifully lit, neo-noirish gangster film that sees Christopher Walken play a coldblooded Robin Hood figure.
Released from prison, Frank White takes control of his mob and eliminates the competition which he deems unworthy of running the streets due to their amoral affiliations.
The police of course, disagree with Frank's methods and set out to get him, either by the book or off it.
The plot flows smoothly but you wish there was more to it. Frank's benevolence is hinted at in the beginning but it doesn't grow. And the plot shortly abandons its initial premise to focus on the bloody gang-war between Frank's men and the police.
Christopher Walken as the remorseless philanthropist, Frank White, is superb. He is soft-spoken, sinister and even spooky when he has to be.
He is aided by a young and energetic Larry Fishburne and pitted against a fiery David Caruso.
The cinematography is something else. It balances the dark, smokey noirish elements delightfully with the neon lit cityscape. Add to that a surreal play of shadows and reflections and a color-blasted sequence of awesome blue towards the finale and you just can't help applauding Bojan Bazelli's craft.
Overall, a good, solid film. Starts off with a nice heading but despite taking a different direction altogether, maintains its shit together.
Well acted and finely directed.
I didn't go crazy for it but I did like it a lot and would probably watch it again.
Rating- 3.8/5
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