'R Xmas Movie Review 2001

Brancato and de Matteo star as the unnamed husband and wife whose idyllic Manhattan days disguise their shady heroin dealings by night in the Bronx. It's Christmas time and everything is just swell for the mom and pop drug dealers until they attempt to illegally obtain a hard-to-find toy for their daughter (Valens), which ends in dad getting kidnapped by a thug (Ice-T) who wants a huge ransom and asks that they refrain from dealing drugs in the future. They're then left to decide between their tarnished American Dream and going straight and being poor. Some racial issues are explored (she's Puerto Rican, he's Dominican), as well as the obvious moral and financial issues. De Matteo makes her character complex and eminently watchable through somewhat predictable and tired material.

Distribution

Artisan Entertainment, 2700 Colorado Ave., Ste. 200, Santa Monica, CA 90404, Phone: (310)449-9200, Fax: (310)255-3730, URL: http://www.artisanent.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 83 minutes.
Originally from United States, French.

Cast and Crew

Genres

New York, New York, Christmas, Kidnapped!, Urban Drama, Horrible Holidays

Screenplay

Abel Ferrara, Scott Pardo

Cast

Lillo Brancato, Drea De Matteo, Ice-T, Victor Argo, Lisa Valens

Cinematography

Ken Kelsch

Director

Abel Ferrara