''Empire State'' is a 2013 American

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 combine ...

film centered on two childhood friends who rob an armored car repository and the NYPD officer who stands in their way. Directed by

Dito Montiel Orlandito Montiel is an American author, filmmaker, and musician. Early Career & Music Born in New York City, Montiel was active in the early '80s New York hardcore punk scene when he was vocalist for Queens-based Major Conflict. Later, he woul ...

and starring

Liam Hemsworth Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990) is an Australian actor. He played the roles of Josh Taylor in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Marcus in the children's television series ''The Elephant Princess''. In American films, Hemsworth starred as W ...

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror film, horror and thriller (genre), thriller genres, she has received List of awar ...

and

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

, the film was released straight to DVD and Blu-ray on September 3, 2013. It is based on a true story.

Plot

Chris Potamitis lives with his parents and younger sister in the Bronx in the early 1980s. His immigrant father is fired from his job after 10 years of cleaning a shady Greek social club. Chris fails to get into the police academy because of a previous marijuana conviction. He gets a low-paying job as a security guard with the Empire Armored Car Company, where security is extremely poor, morale is equally bad, and no reliable records are kept of money collected or stored. His partner is killed during a robbery, but the company gives the dead man's family only $5,000 in compensation rather than the $50,000 they are entitled to. After Chris is demoted to the position of night watchman, he steals one of the money bags he is guarding and gives some of the cash to his partner's widow. Chris makes the mistake of showing the money to his loud-mouthed best friend Eddie and telling him about the company's worse-than-lax security. Eddie shares this information with Spiro, a gangster he wants to impress, and Spiro stages a robbery that is foiled by James Ransome, a veteran detective in the New York Police Department who has been tipped off. A gun battle ensues in which two of the robbers are killed. Then, on December 12, 1982, Eddie breaks into the company through the roof in the middle of the night, and he hectors a weak-willed Chris into opening the vault. Eddie knocks out Chris and steals $11 million in cash, the single largest cash robbery in U.S. history, exceeding the $5.8 million

Lufthansa heist The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $ million in ) was stolen, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, ma ...

in December 1978. Eddie gives $3 million of the loot to Chris. The FBI goes after the

Five Families The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...

of organized crime, but Ransome decides that Chris, Eddie, and their associates need to be investigated. Eddie and his gangster friend Michael attempt to exchange $8 million of the loot for Colombian drugs, but the deal goes bad and Michael and the Colombians shoot it out. Meanwhile, Spiro demands that Chris turn over the money to him. Ransome arrests Eddie and asks where Chris and the rest of the money are, but Eddie says nothing and is released. Chris tells his friend Nancy that the money is hidden in a statue that he and Eddie had given to his mother. Eddie confronts Chris with a gun and demands that he hand over the money, but Chris' father shoots and wounds Eddie just before the police arrive and arrest all three men. Chris and Eddie are released from federal prison on October 10, 1991, but the money is never recovered.

Cast

as Chris Potamitis *

as Nancy Michaelides *

as Detective James Ransome *

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film ''Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Elli ...

as Eddie *

Nikki Reed Nicole Houston Reed (born May 17, 1988) is an American actress known for her portrayal of vampire Rosalie Hale in '' The Twilight Saga'' (2008–2012). She became known in 2003, after the release of the film ''Thirteen'', directed by Catherine ...

as Lizzette *

Paul Ben-Victor Paul Ben-Victor (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Greek mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', Alan Gray in ''Entourage'' (2005–2008), and Ray in '' Body Parts'' (1991). ...

as Tommy Potamitis *

Jerry Ferrara Jerry Charles Ferrara (born November 25, 1979) is an American actor known for his role as Turtle on the HBO comedy series ''Entourage'', and starred on the Starz drama series ''Power'' as Joe Proctor. Life and career Ferrara was born in Broo ...

as Jimmy "The Greek" * Greg Vrotsos as Mike Dimitriu *

Michael Rispoli Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos,'' but was ultimately cast as Jackie Aprile, a recurring character in the show’s first season. Rispo ...

as Tony Cappolitti * Wayne Pére as Williams * Craig Leydecker as Chilewski *

Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes-Beech (; born October 24, 1989), previously credited as Shenae Grimes, is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Annie Wilson on The CW series '' 90210'', a spin-off of Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Prior to that, she had a recurring ...

as Eleni *

Sharon Angela Sharon Angela is an American film and television actress, screenwriter, and film director. Angela is known for her portrayal of Rosalie Aprile on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Biography Angela has appeared in several films such as ''Cabar ...

as Dina Potamitis *

Chris Diamantopoulos Chris Diamantopoulos (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor. He played Russ Hanneman in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' and starred in the film ''The Three Stooges'', and the TV series ''Good Girls Revolt''. He currently voices Mickey Mouse i ...

as Spiro Stavrakis * Lucky Johnson as Phil Johnson *

James Ransone James Finley Ransone III (born June 2, 1979) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of the drama series ''The Wire'', United States Marine Corps Cpl. Josh Ray Person in the war drama min ...

as Agent Nugent *

Gia Mantegna Gia Cristine Mantegna (born Gina Cristine Mantegna) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Devin Levin on the ABC sitcom '' The Middle''. Personal life Mantegna was born Gina Cristine Mantegna in Manhattan, New York, and raised in ...

as Vicky Potamitis

Production

Shooting took place in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in 2012.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to ''Empire State'' was released on September 3, 2013.

Release

''Empire State'' premiered at the

Gasparilla International Film Festival Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF, stylized as gịff) is an annual independent film festival that takes place in Tampa Bay area, Tampa Bay, Florida. The festival is run by the Tampa Film Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated t ...

on March 19, 2013. It grossed $187,500 in Croatia, Mexico, and Thailand.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...

released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on September 3, 2013, and it grossed $4 million.

Reception

John Ferguson of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the film features "committed performances" but can not decide whether it is a gritty drama or flashy heist film."Empire State"
''RadioTimes''. Retrieved 2020-06-15.

References

External links

* * {{Dito Montiel 2013 films 2013 direct-to-video films 2013 crime drama films American crime drama films American heist films Direct-to-video drama films Films directed by Dito Montiel Crime films based on actual events Films about bank robbery Films set in the 1980s Films set in Queens, New York Films shot in New Orleans Films shot in New York City Films shot in Toronto Lionsgate films MoviePass Films films Voltage Pictures films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films