Life is Hot in Cracktown Kerry Washington, Victor Rasuk, Evan Ross, Lara Flynn Boyle Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Never quite the gripping, warning-to-us-all that it could have been, novelist-turned-director Buddy Giovinazzo's adaptation of his own work suffers from an over-abundance of gloom.
Granted, the subject matter - how crack cocaine has permeated US society - is heavy. It's just that Giovinazzo shows little flair for building dramatic tension, or allowing the audience to develop any real feelings for the people whose lives they watch fall apart.
We are presented with a selection of down-and-outers, dreamers who are looking to break out of their misery. But one never really believes there's any hope; everything is grey and grubby and disaster is constantly lurking.
Giovinazzo interweaves the lives of his characters in much the same manner as the Oscar-winning Crash, but with a lighter script and a far less talented cast (Kerry Washington aside), which sadly makes the whole exercise tiresome.
Washington makes the most of things as a transsexual hawking her wares to save for the op. She is talented enough to walk away from this unscarred. Not so the likes of Evan Ross (below), chewing the scenery as the unhinged thug and rolling his eyes in a manner that ends up making it look like he's trying to stay awake. Join the club. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette; deleted scenes.