It’s easier than ever to track down movies. As a kid, I’d lurk in video rental stores checking out the box cover art, trying to decide which one to spend my allowance on. It wasn’t an easy choice. The rental places were predatory. They charged outrageous fees if you returned a movie late, or didn’t rewind. God help you if you damaged the cassette. Those things cost upwards of a hundred bucks.
Sometimes you lucked out and discovered Enter the Dragon. Sometimes you got suckered by the cover and stuck with Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold.
Now, it’s as easy as going online to either stream it, rent it, or buy a used DVD for pennies on the dime. I’m a full-time police detective, the author of the Santero and Rein Thriller Series from Kensington Books, and a lifelong fan of crime movies. When I tell you a film is worth checking out, that’s money, honey. I’m going to tell you about a few of my favorites in a series of forthcoming blog posts.
The King of New York – 1990
Abel Ferrara is better known for Bad Lieutenant, and that’s a shame, because TKONY is a far superior movie. The cast he assembled here were all blood-and-guts back alley street actors at the time, who all went on to have big careers. It’s easy to see why. There’s not a pretty boy among them.
Christopher Walken plays the lead as Frank White, a recently-released drug dealer who is now back to reclaim what’s his. This is Walken in all his weird jittery glory. Walken is one of the few people who can smile and dance right before he shoots you.
The supporting cast is comprised of Lawrence Fishbourne, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, and more. All of them are chewing up the scenery. They are hungry to be in this movie and it shows. Shortly after The King of New York, Caruso would rock the world as Det. John Kelly in NYPD Blue, Lawrence Fishbourne would have a huge film career, and Wesley Snipes would star in New Jack City. It’s kind of easy to dismiss Snipes as a joke now, after all this tax trouble and a long run of third-rate action movies, but back in the 90’s, he had a decent run of respectable films.
Fun Fact: The movie was an absolute disaster. It only made $2.5 million at the box office. It’s impact on modern culture was far greater, though. Biggie Smalls, arguably one of the greatest rap artists in history, adopted the name “Frank White” and referenced the movie often.
Best Scene: The underground train yard scene is, hands down, one of the best in modern cinema. It’s a final confrontation between the supporting cast members, and trust me, you will not be able to forget it. Fishbourne, Snipes, and Caruso, combined with the way Ferrara filmed it, should be studied by film students and crime authors alike.
Bernard Schaffer is a member of the MWANY and the author of THE THIEF OF ALL LIGHT, available now in bookstores everywhere.