''Life Is Hot in Cracktown'' is a 2009 crime drama film based on Buddy Giovinazzo's 1993 collection of short stories with the same title. Giovinazzo directed and wrote the film.

Plot

The film intertwines several unsettling stories of people in a Manhattan neighborhood ravaged by

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

.Four Dwell in "Cracktown": www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00007378.htmlSix Immigrating to "Cracktown": www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00007693.html Romeo, a 14-year-old criminal, is the leader of a gang. In the beginning of the movie, he lures his girlfriend, Debbie, to a secluded alley where he and another gang member gang rape her. He leads his gang into robbing and torturing a very sick pensioner, and then steps up to doing a murder-for-hire at the behest of a local drug dealer, unaware of the enormous risks. Manny and Concetta, a young couple, are desperately trying to rise out of poverty and care for their sick baby. Manny works two jobs—the front desk of a drug-riddled flop house by day and the cash register of a frequently-robbed bodega at night. Another young couple, Marybeth and Benny, are both drug addicts. Marybeth is a transgender woman who makes a bit of money as a street prostitute to pay for surgery, and Benny is into very low-paying burglaries. Their principal source of drugs is a well-off trans person, Ridley, who is looking to follow in Marybeth's footsteps. Young Willy and younger Susie are the much-neglected children of an addict named Mommy, who makes them sleep on the floor of their one-room apartment. Mommy's current boyfriend, a hot-tempered addict named Chaz, makes the children beg on the street for his drug money. Willy's one bright spot is neighbor child Melody, whose mother pimps her out every night. When Chaz and Mommy leave the children behind while they embark on a drug-fueled quest to get more drug money from a relative of Chaz, Melody is picked up by the police. Willy, meanwhile, is sent on a wild goose chase by Betty, an aging prostitute who enjoys tormenting her neighbors.

Cast

* Evan Ross as Romeo *Stephanie Lugo as Debbie, Romeo's girlfriend * Shannyn Sossamon as Concetta a woman faced with the challenges of raising her sick child, wife of Manny * Victor Rasuk as her husband Manny, who supports Concetta and his baby by working the front desk of a drug-infested tenement building by day and an often-robbed bodega at night * Lara Flynn Boyle as a faded and cruel prostitute named Betty McBain * Thomas Ian Nicholas as Chad Wesley a rookie cop * Vondie Curtis-Hall as street-toughened veteran cop * Kerry Washington as Marybeth/Mickey, a transsexual prostitute * Desmond Harrington as Benny, MaryBeth's "husband" * Mark Webber as Ridley/Gabrielle, a transgender prostitute and friend of MaryBeth * Brandon Routh as Sizemore, a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

drug addict who sometimes talks to Willy *

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...

as a drug dealer named Sammy, who does business with Romeo * Carly Pope as Stacy * Tony Plana as an alcoholic man * Ridge Canipe as Willy, the older brother of Susie * Edoardo Ballerini as Chas, Mommy's

abusive Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

boyfriend * Illeana Douglas as Mommy, the heavily addicted mother of Willy and Susie *Elena Franklin as Melody Amber * Mayte Garcia as Murietta *

Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She starred as Alex Dunphy in the ABC comedy series ''Modern Family'', for which she and her co-stars won four consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble ...

as Susie * Omar Regan as Cremont *Jeremy West as Mr. Rutherford, a crippled pensioner robbed by Romeo *Bryan Becker as Pepperton

Production

Director Buddy Giovinazzo revealed that originally the rape scene came twenty minutes into the film and the film opened in the bodega (convenience store).

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, life_is_hot_in_cracktown 2009 crime drama films American crime drama films Films directed by Buddy Giovinazzo Films about drugs Films about prostitution in the United States 2009 films 2009 LGBT-related films Films set in Manhattan Films about trans women 2000s English-language films 2000s American films