Last Exit to Brooklyn

Star Review

Following hard on the heels of his vituperative debut, Christiane F, Uli Edel settled on equally controversial fare for his second movie, an adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr's portmanteau of stories focusing on life in the grubbier districts of early 1950s Brooklyn. Kicking off with 'Another Day, Another Dollar', in which a trio sailors stumble across a horsefight between prostitute Tralala (an almost unrecognisable Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a John and find themselves in a ruck, the movie then takes each of the stories in the book and twists them together like a rough and ready twine: an alcoholic father vows to do right by his daughter; a union official embezzles funds to explore the homosexual urges aroused in him by a tranvestite; Tralala sacrifices human feeling to expediency and presages a climax many viewers struggle to watch. Given the seedy subject matter, it's surprising to learn that Last Exit is as charming and tender a period piece as it seems to have become.

Peter Wild on 14th September 2006

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Film Description

Among the characters in this working class area of 1950s New York are Tralala - a prostitute, her brutal pimp Vinnie, an effeminate homosexual and a corrupt union official. A disturbing book successfully brought to the screen.

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I think that this movie was very innovating. I am in Human Development and this movie showed me the different types of conflict styles. Again I say thank you for think... more >

I think that this movie was very innovating. I am in Human Development and this movie showed me the different types of conflict styles. Again I say thank you for thinking of making a movie like this. < less

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I like the movie. I find it interesting because it had action. It was funny. My favorite part was Larry Love because he be talkin' and lyin'. T. I liked the movie. ... more >

I like the movie. I find it interesting because it had action. It was funny. My favorite part was Larry Love because he be talkin' and lyin'. T. I liked the movie. Because it was funny. It was sad. It shows how men can be with alcohol. I don't like when he hit the mother. He took his problems out on the mother and caused her to die. The boy Larry was saying that he got things but he doesn't. The kids took the the fact of the father hitting the mother and how they hold their anger inside. S. I liked the movie. The movie was funny. The boy Dennis didn't like the way his father hit his mother. He wanted to do something about it. That's why he stole the money. M. I have seen this movie five times. It never loses its appeal. Although the movie deals with a disturbing topic, it is balanced. It blends heart-rending scenes of domestic abuse with the warmth of companionship found in family and friends. So many portrayals of problems in poor communities only offer one side. In this film you get to see more than one facet of the community.It displays violence without sympathy. IT DOES NOT GLORIFY VIOLENCE; the film reveals the consequences and causes of violence without excusing it. < less

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Film Details

Cast

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alexis Arquette

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