''Bushwick'' is a 2017 American
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion and written by
Nick Damici
Nick Damici is an American actor and screenwriter known for such films as '' Mulberry Street'' and ''Stake Land''.
Early life
Nick Damici grew up in Hell's Kitchen in the 1960s and early 1970s. His father was a bartender, and Damici would oc ...
and Graham Reznick. The film is about a former United States Navy Hospital Corpsman (
Dave Bautista
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destro ...
) and a young graduate student (
Brittany Snow
Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...
) who form an unlikely alliance during the invasion of their city by a mysterious, heavily armed militia. After both are injured during the fighting, they have to work together to rescue family members and escape to the United States Army's extraction point for civilians.
Plot
Lucy, a second year graduate student in
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
, and her boyfriend Jose are exiting a subway in
Bushwick
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...
(in Brooklyn) where they see a man on fire running down into the station. Jose runs out to see what is going on, but is immediately killed by an explosion. Lucy runs out to try to find help but gets chased by two men. They find her in a house, but the men are killed by Stupe, the owner of the house. Stupe, a combat veteran, leaves his home to try to reach his family in
Hoboken
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...
. Lucy joins him as she tries to get to her grandmother's house. Along the way, Stupe gets injured and trains Lucy in giving first aid and shooting a gun.
When they reach Lucy's grandmother's home, they find her already dead because of heart failure. As mercenaries infiltrate the home, the two escape and retreat to Belinda's, Lucy's sister. Drugged up, Belinda does not realize what is going on until a mercenary breaks into the home. Stupe subdues the soldier and asks him at gunpoint to explain what is going on. The mercenary reveals that
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
is
seceding from the United States and has partnered with other Southern states (
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
with parts of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
also) to form the New American Coalition, with militias to infiltrate US areas, including Bushwick, for insurgency. However, they did not expect the armed resistance from the neighborhood. Stupe convinces the mercenary to reveal the
DMZ
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
, where the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
is extracting non-combatants: Grover Cleveland Park. Stupe knocks out the mercenary and the trio begin to make their way to the park.
Along the way, they encounter James and his mother in their building. James' mother blackmails Stupe and Lucy into going to the local church where evacuees are hiding and convincing the parish priest to meet up at a local laundromat to arm everyone to fight back as they head to the DMZ. James and his mother keep Belinda hostage to ensure Stupe and Lucy comply. Stupe and Lucy make it to the church, but when they find the priest, he shoots himself. Lucy then tells everyone to meet up at the laundromat to get guns to fight back with.
As Stupe and Lucy wait for James to arrive with Belinda, they briefly talk about their lives before the war. Stupe reveals that his family had actually died during the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, and he had told Lucy he was going to Hoboken just to try to get rid of her but is glad she stayed with him. As Stupe heads off to the washroom, he is mistakenly shot and killed by a scared teenage girl hiding inside. James arrives with Belinda and they head out for the attack.
They reach the DMZ, but it is heavily guarded by the mercenaries. As the resistance fights back, Lucy and Belinda stick together and run towards the helicopters. Belinda gets shot in the leg and Lucy runs over to her. As Lucy tries to drag Belinda, Lucy is shot in the head and killed. Belinda cries in horror as members of the resistance carry her to the helicopters. The final shot of smoke shows that the rest of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
has been under attack as well.
Cast
*
Dave Bautista
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destro ...
as Stupe
*
Brittany Snow
Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...
as Lucy
* Angelic Zambrana as Belinda
*
Jeff Lima
Jeff Lima (born 4 July 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. A New Zealand international representative , he previously played for the Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm, South S ...
as Gregory
* Paco Lozano as Priest
*
Christian Navarro as Eduardo
*
Arturo Castro as Jose
*
Jeremie Harris
Jeremie Harris is an American actor. He is primarily known for his portrayal of Ptonomy Wallace in FX (TV channel), FX's ''Legion (TV series), Legion''.
Biography
Jeremie Harris grew up in New Rochelle where he had ambitions to become a basketbal ...
as JP
*
Myra Lucretia Taylor
Myra Lucretia Taylor (born July 9, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She received Tony Awards nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Gran Georgeanna in the Broadway musical '' Tina'' (2019). She also rec ...
as Ma
* Alex Breaux as Lt. Brewer
Production
On March 4, 2015, it was announced that Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion would direct the disaster action thriller film ''Bushwick'' based on the script by
Nick Damici
Nick Damici is an American actor and screenwriter known for such films as '' Mulberry Street'' and ''Stake Land''.
Early life
Nick Damici grew up in Hell's Kitchen in the 1960s and early 1970s. His father was a bartender, and Damici would oc ...
and Graham Reznick, while producers would be XYZ Films' Nate Bolotin and Bullet Pictures' Adam Folk.
Jane Levy
Jane Colburn Levy ( ; born ) is an American actress. After attending the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, she debuted as the original Mandy Milkovich on the Showtime comedy-drama '' Shameless'' (2011). Levy left ''Shameless'' following its first ...
was attached to play the female lead role of Lucy. On September 9, 2015,
Dave Bautista
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destro ...
also joined the film to play a war veteran Stupe. He and Lucy meet during a military invasion of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and they decide to cross five blocks of
Bushwick
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...
to reach the safe zone. On November 4, 2015,
Brittany Snow
Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...
was cast in the film replacing Levy to play her role Lucy. The score was composed by rapper and producer
Aesop Rock
Ian Matthias Bavitz (born June 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer from Long Island, New York. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerge ...
.
Lakeshore Records
Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...
has released the soundtrack.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
on the film began early December 2015 in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 5.44/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Bushwick''s sociopolitical subtext gives it more heft than the average action thriller, but those ideas are given short shrift in what amounts to a disappointing shoot-'em-up." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Simon Crook for ''Empire'' praised the film calling it a brilliant
B-movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
with a political punch and called for a sequel. Geoff Berkshire at ''Variety'' wrote that "Even if the low-budget execution is uneven at times, there’s enough snap to the filmmaking, and enough raw power in the premise, to make for solid B-movie excitement. Chuck Bowen of ''Slant Magazine'' called it a "a genre film with a refreshing sense of political infrastructure".
References
External links
*
* {{AllMovie title
2017 action thriller films
2017 films
American action thriller films
American disaster films
Films set in Brooklyn
Films set in Queens, New York
Films shot in New York City
One-shot films
2010s English-language films
Films directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion
2010s American films