Prince of Broadway

The movie "Prince of Broadway" centers on Lucky, a street hustler in New York City, who is unexpectedly thrust into the role of father when he discovers he has a son he never knew about. This is another independent movie by director and writer Sean Baker, who explores the lives of undocumented immigrants in New York during the 2000s, capturing their struggles and experiences.

This movie is not just original but captures reality in its most authentic form. Baker creates and directs Prince of Broadway with total creative freedom, letting the actors contribute to the dialogue and add scenes that enrich the plot. Baker's greatest achievement in his movies lies in using unknown actors who are entirely outside the Hollywood system, which in itself creates a compelling sense of authenticity. It's impossible not to be convinced of the authenticity of each character's life.

Prince Adu as Lucky, baby Aiden Noesi as Prince, and Karren Karagulian as boss Levon are exceptionally well-cast, delivering performances that rival or even surpass those of many high-profile actors.

This is a powerful, emotional film that clearly showcases Sam Baker's exploration of society's margins in his works. This is just another gem in Baker's filmography.

This is not a movie, it is a masterpiece!

The sense of realism was captured beautifully throughout. The characters and the story most people can relate to in real life, but, to capture it as well as it was, well it deserves full credit. The timing of the camera work was superb.

I refuse to call this a movie, more like a captured moment in someones life. Even the way it ended left you thinking.

As always I try not to read reviews or watch trailers about the movie or it's characters so to me this was quite a surprise to watch something so unique.

Thank you very much.

Another highly engaging story from Sean Baker, this one about a hustler of counterfeit sneakers and designer bags having his world turned upside down when an old girlfriend surprises him with an 18-month-old baby, saying it's his and that he needs to take care of it for awhile. Despite knowing nothing about babies and complaining bitterly to everyone around him (including the baby), he's forced to take it in. In lesser hands this might become cloying quickly, but Baker is masterfully restrained, keeping the baby a burden (albeit an adorable burden) and only very subtly shifting the man's attitude over the course of the film.

Initially it seems there is going to be some commentary on class as we compare the hustler's life to that of his boss who is better off, but it turns out his boss has problems of his own, namely, his young wife doesn't want to be with him, having only married him so he could get a green card. We see a very balanced character in the boss, both a good side (providing support for his employee and looking out for his baby), and a bad side (too possessive of his wife). That's true of the hustler as well, and we get the idea that deep down they're decent people just trying to make a living, despite their shady business. In other words, Sean Baker's humanism strikes again, though it's certainly not a naïve humanism, as the baby's mother certainly doesn't come off well here, and the grittiness to the life we see on the streets.

The acting in this feels incredibly natural, as aside from casting non-actors, Baker also notes in the end credits that the dialogue was all improvised. Prince Adu and Karren Karagulian are fantastic as the hustler and his boss, but I liked Keyali Mayaga as the girlfriend even more. The main story line got a little repetitive in the middle of the film, but this is one that kept me up late, unable to pause it. Quite a nice little film, and one to check out.

This was one of the great surprises you can have when renting out what proves to be a real "sleeper".

The acting was amazing, Prince Adu was absolutely brilliant and I just couldn't believe that this man had no former experience as an actor. I'm fairly convinced that we will see much more of this man in the future.

In fact, it was almost as much fun to watch the specials and to get to experience the story behind this film as it was watching the movie itself.

The story is multi-faceted, deeply engaging and warmhearted.

There is a lot of truth in this movie and as somebody who has spent over 8 years living in NYC, it opens your eyes to what rich stories this city has to tell.

This movie is one of those rare examples where you sense that while they shot it, everything just fell into place perfectly. There is something truly magic about The Prince Of Broadway.