Reviews
DVD Description
From the story by Hubert Selby Jr, about life in a working class district of Brooklyn during the 1950s. It follows the lives of struggling characters amid a world of poverty and despair. Harry Black (Stephen Lang) is a corrupt union official who beats his wife at night and spends embezzled money exploring his homosexuality. He discovers himself infatuated with a frail young man who calls himself Georgette (Alexis Arquette), who has a crush on well-muscled hood Vinnie (Peter Dobson). But Harry doesn't confront his problem head-on until he falls head-over-heels in love with Regina (Bernard Zette), a local transvestite. As Harry sinks into obsession, other characters float through the decaying streets. There's the attractive prostitute Tralala (Jennifer Jason-Leigh) who falls in love with one of her clients. There is also an agreeable young man named Tommy (John Costelloe) who is beaten by his soon-to-be father-in-law Big Joe (Burt Young) for making his daughter Donna (Ricki Lake) illegitimately pregnant. This is a disturbing book successfully brought to the screen.
