Not that I would pretend to know that town (as I've never been there), it seems to me a dirty disgusting, crowded shit hole of a place doused in cheap neon lights and cold uncomfortable living. Watching this movie makes you feel slimy. Like a sewer. Because the characters literally sweat in cold weather. That is a very very uncomfortable feeling. Which makes this movie effective on that level.
The story is of brothers Connie (Robert Pattinson) and Nick (Benny Safdie) who commit a bank robbery. During the escape Nick is captured by the police and now faces time in prison whilst Connie now searches for a way to bail out his brother.
That's the story. The rest sort of plays as hi-jinks. Connie goes to the hospital which he believes is holding his brother after a jail fight, only to free a complete stranger. This stranger leads him to an opportunity for bail money. Yep, that's really the story. Also, Nick is retarded or something. I can't really place it, but he's annoying Because he does annoying retarded shit to get him in trouble. As does Connie. The guy he accidentally frees too is that annoying New York City guido whose voice makes you want to punch him repeatedly. Saddle that with the fact that his face looks like Jake LaMotta after 10 rounds and you just want to run through a plate glass window to escape the grimy filth these people are.
To that sense, the movie is really effective. With a soundtrack that is desperately wanting to be a Paul Brickman movie. It's really loud and obnoxious like the movie. The sliver of hope is a girl they run into name Crystal. She is a 16 year old who lives with her Jamaican grandmother. Again tapping into the idiosyncrasies of New York City, she is brilliantly played by Taliah Webster. Sweet and naive, who believes she is more worldly once she crosses paths with real criminals. The result is effectively sad.
I am amazed at the no-budget filmmaking style of the directors who were able to shoot this on film. Beautifully ugly.
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