Have you
ever been invited to a party but were reluctant to go? Maybe you
didn't know anybody who'd be there, or perhaps you thought you'd
be out of place among people who were richer, more
sophisticated, and more knowledgeable. Have you ever then
overcome your hesitation, headed for the affair, and then were
pleasantly surprised by the people you met who were friendly and
who took you into their confidence?
This is
the motivating factor behind Franc. Reyes’ compelling gangster
movie, Empire, which, according to production notes, is
the first of the genre to be told from the Latino point of view
(written and directed by a Latino). Borrowing the concept of
family from HBO’s The Sopranos and some of the shootouts
from the Godfather series, Empire scores because
of the great appeal of John Leguizamo, a versatile individual
known for such diverse roles as that of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec
in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge and a hairdresser in Spike
Lee's Summer of Sam, familiar as well to the New York
theater crowd for his one-man comic performances in Mambo
Mouth and Spic-O-Rama.
Leguizamo performs in the role of
Victor Rosa, a young, good-looking fellow of Puerto Rican
extraction who lives in the South Bronx and makes a spectacular
living dealing heroin which, he proudly tells us, is the best
stuff out there, never overly diluted like the junk that his
competitors are dishing out. Criminal activity aside, he enjoys
a warm relationship with his loyal pals, especially Jimmy
(Vincent Laresca) and his live-in girl friend Carmen (Delilah
Cotto) whom he adores and wraps in expensive jewelry to the
consternation of the girl's mother, Iris (Sonia Braga).
Believing himself too hip to be taken in by con artists like
3-card monte players, he winds up ripped off for quite a bit
more because of his desire to leave the drugs behind and make a
legitimate life for himself, his girl, and his forthcoming son.
Throughout
the story, Victor is contrasted with the fellow he meets at a
party, Jack Wimmer (Peter Sarsgaard), who wins his confidence by
flattery and by a show of worldly success including his trophy
girl friend Trish (Denise Richards), a smashing Soho loft which
he allows his new pal to use rent-free, and his apparent
knowledge of Wall Street investments.
Some of
the tidbits that come out in director Franc. Reyes' script are
nothing we haven't heard before, but spoken in Jack Wimmer's
unctuous style, you can't blame some people in the movie
audience who'd like to invest with him, research be damned. As
we know from the "Godfather" series, there is a belief among
some in the organized crime business that their dealings are
just another way of making money and that they are no more
dishonest than corporate executives. As Jack tells Victor,
pointing out some of his tuxedo-clad customers at the posh
party, cutthroat competition is the name of the game in every
field (including the media), and that what Victor does is no
more reprehensible than actions we'd expect from chief
executives of the big tobacco companies. When Jack points out as
well that half the people at the gathering are his customers and
that he is trying to win the business of the other half, we're
certain that Victor is comparing Jack's life to his own, that of
a man who must fight to maintain his South Bronx turf from
inroads that thugs from another gang might make. While Victor is
eager to reinvent himself by fitting in with a white-dominated
establishment, his girl friend is more realistic, homesick for
her life with mom despite the trapping of new money.
Empire
is the first production of Arenas Entertainment, a division of
Universal Pictures with a primary audience expected to be
Latinos. This is a fortuitous debut not because there's anything
new about the script of especially noteworthy about Ruben
Blades' music or even about the concept of several worlds
existing in New York City with little knowledge of one another
and even less desire of people to change their cultural values.
Nor is the all-too-frequent voice over narration by Mr.
Leguizamo appealing, as if writer-director Reyes fears that his
audience may not follow the plot without that literary
intrusion.
Empire
is, however, valuable because of Leguizamo's ability
convincingly to show those of us who live in the 'burbs, or in
the so-called nice neighborhoods of the city what life is like
in the urban jungle, where heavy risk-taking in criminal
activities appears the only way to climb out of poverty.
