*Hell's Kitchen NYC* is a 1997 film directed by Tony Cinceripini. It stars Rosanna Arquette as Liz, William Forsyth as Lou, Angelina Jolie as Gloria, Mekhi Phifer as Johnny, and Johnny Whitworth as Patty. Ms Jolie's brother James Haven Voight has a brief appearance as a bartender. The soundtrack features recordings by singer Joseph Arthur and rapper Mekhi Phifer.
Hell's Kitchen is a neighborhood of New York City that has a long history of crime and violence. In recent years the area's name was changed to Clinton, apparently as part of a makeover of its notoriety. I'm told that only newcomers call it that; for those born there it's still "Hell's Kitchen" or "The Kitchen."
The movie *Hell's Kitchen NYC* aspires to be counted in the genre of what I'll term "New York City street movies." The genre can be traced back to the late '40's when *The Naked City* (1948) was made. *The Cool World* (1964) is a legendary example. *Fort Apache: The Bronx* (1981) is a more recent one.
NYC street movies are not filmed on studio sound stages but on the streets of New York. While they are scripted and played like other dramatic films, they make a fetish of realism and so have a raw documentary feel. Professional actors share the screen with everyday city people who more or less just play themselves. The camera takes us into low-income neighborhoods where we're confronted with the struggle of common men and women against economic hardship and the temptation/threat of crime. We share the daily joys and woes of these hardy people. We get to know worried parents and aimless youth, hoodlums and cops, drug dealers and addicts, pimps and prostitutes. We discover that they are human just like the rest of us.
*Hell's Kitchen NYC* embraces all the trappings of the genre but is a dramatic flop. My feeling is that writer, producer and director Tony Cinceripini lost hold of his own material. The film tries hard to bring us close to its five messed-up main protagonists: Liz, a drug-addicted nightclub singer; Patty, the young owner of the nightclub who is tormented by private guilt; Gloria, Liz's daughter and Patty's girlfriend who is consumed by rage over the shooting death of her brother; Johnny, a young boxer just released from five years in prison; and Lou, a somewhat brain-damaged ex-champion boxer who gives Johnny a job.
But the closer we get to these people the more dispiriting the experience becomes. Cinceripini wants us to feel their hurt, and that we do...but we never recover from it. The mood of the film is just too depressing. The long interludes of somber, repetitive music have a lot to do with that. As does the plodding story riddled with predictable cliches. And the lifelessly dark, washed-out, or gray tones of the cinematography. And the camera tricks (odd angles and slomo) that just bump us right out of the movie.
Cinceripini tries to show us a happy end: Lou gets past his hangups to take charge of Johnny's boxing career, and Johnny wins the championship; Gloria lets go of her loss, which permits her and Johnny to revive their love that went to hell five years before; Lia and Gloria reconcile and hug each other; Johnny and Patty reconcile and hug each other... But we don't care. We've been deadened. This movie is a total downer.
As an Angelina Jolie fan I endured *Hell's Kitchen NYC* three times just to study her performance. She has a large part in the film, which is nice simply because I always enjoy her presence on the screen. But Ms Jolie smiles only two or three times in the whole movie, and these are very short and wan smiles. Her regular expression is like that of a woman who's been told by her doctor she has a terminal disease. Sometimes she cries. Sometimes she's angry. But never once does she look happy, even when she's telling Johnny that she's pregnant and thus feels alive again. As a performance of misery it's effective. But after watching it thrice over the past several months I doubt if I'll watch it again.
Oh, I should mention that in this movie Ms Jolie speaks with a creditable New York accent. This is worth noting because in her big hit two years later, *The Bone Collector*, she starts off with the same accent (see her first scene, the before-work conversation with her boyfriend). But as *The Bone COllector* develops she reverts to her laid-back Los Angeles way of speaking. I suppose if you're not very familiar with regional American speech patterns you won't notice it. Anyway, in *Hell's Kitchen NYC* she manages to maintain the "Noo Yawk" idiom throughout. Some of her best lines (not for the easily offended)--
(Gloria to Patty, her boyfriend:) "You (...) my muddah?"
(Gloria to Liz:) "Ma, you're a (...)."
(As Gloria tosses cash to the hoodlum who sells her a revolver, but who prefers her to pay him in sex instead of money, she says:) "Go pay for some p*ssy."
Another thing I should mention is that in this movie Ms Jolie is a blonde. And in that hair color, this represents her best appearance! In *Life or Something Like It* her blonde hairdo was a caricature of Marilyn Monroe's. I couldn't take it seriously. In *Girl Interrupted* she was OK as a blonde, but her hair was hippie-ish and not well cared for. In *Hell's Kitchen NYC* her blonde hairstyle looks attractive and completely natural.
At the end of the final credits of *Hell's Kitchen NYC* a message scrolls up from "M.P." (Mekhi Phifer I guess). "Life is Good." If the good life means the one depicted in *Hell's Kitchen NYC*, then in M.P.'s dictionary "good" must mean "hell."
I'd recomment *Hell's Kitchen NYC* to the anti-terrorist police as a psychological instrument for breaking down suspects. Just lock your alleged terrorists in a room with a big video screen on the wall. Play this movie over and over nonstop. After a couple of days your guys will be pounding the door to confess everything they know.
Hell's Kitchen N.Y.C.
I really did like the movie. It was one of those things, "does anybody get a break story?" I like the conflict between Roseanna Arquette and Jolie.(Like they could be mother and daughter) Well, anyways it's a life tale of hard knocks and what comes around goes around. What I really can appreciate was that Joseph Arthur did the music except for rap. Mekhi Phifer wrote and did the vocals for the rap. I think that's why Mekhi was on 8 Mile. It's a real good cast that had an over written script. Jolie did a great job as usual and Arquette will surpise you because you never seen her like that before in a movie. Mekhi does the same work as usually, I wish he'd do a roll that makes me think this isn't Mekhi.
Great Jolie Film
This is an amazing work. As always great work from Anglina. This movie is def. gritty. It's a street life movie for real. If you don't like it, you fear it. Yes it tells it like it is. This movie is excellent. Highly recommended for those who want a reality check.
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There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed "Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene. Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British, Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of complications from AIDS (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight, and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Angelina Jolie Director(s): Michael Cristofer DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Okay, I admit it: I have a weakness for Angelina Jolie. I would watch her paint woodwork, do crosswords, order pizza, etc. But this film, whatever it may have started out to be, should never have escaped the studio. Angelina Jolie plays a screaming drug addict, during all of the 4 minutes that she's in the movie. At one point, being driven in a car against her will, she screams that she wants out, and bangs the window of the passenger side for effect. Trust me: this scene was not in the script. She was screaming to get out of this picture. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Gill Dennis DVD Release Date: Released the 25 March 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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