Opening in limited release, the film presents a pre op transsexual in urban America
A graduate of the upscale Spence School and George Washington University, a cosmetics spokesperson and frequently photographed at glamorous events around the globe, actress Kerry Washington exudes pure class. This makes it a little jarring to see her portraying a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual prostitute in the new film "Life Is Hot in Cracktown," opening Friday in limited release.
Directed by Buddy Giovinazzo, adapting his own novel, "Cracktown" tells a set of intersecting stories of urban struggle. The film's relentlessly overripe style makes it slightly over the top, like "Crank: High Voltage" played as a straight-faced social problem film. Amid the film's frenzied atmosphere, Washington brings a calm sense of dignity and emotional nuance to her role, striking a naturalistic note even as she performs an offhandedly discrete tuck.
Marybeth is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married.
Manny works two jobs: the late shift in an all night bodega surrounded by young junkies, drug dealers and prostitutes, and as a security guard in a Welfare hotel. At home his wife, Concetta, takes care of his sick infant son and makes their grimy rundown apartment as much of a home as she can.
Willy, ten years old, lives in the Welfare hotel with his sister, mother and her violent boyfriend. Willy begs on the street so he and Susie can buy some fast food to eat. Romeo, a street tough, roams the streets with his gang. Upset over the murder of his younger brother, and feeling partially responsible for not being there during the shooting, he terrorizes anyone who comes in his path. These four stories come together in a powerful climax of love and salvation, showing that despite the obstacles of life in the inner-city, humanity and hope can still prevail.
"When I'm starting to portray a character, I always start with 'What do I know about this?' " Washington, 32, said recently by phone. "Building characters is always about how they walk and how they talk and how they sit, but the emotional truth of the character often comes from where I connect to this experience and how do I extract that and build more from there. Because there has to be this really organic connection."
(Excerpts first printed in UrbanMecca.com and LA Times)
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