Interesting, disturbing, and tragic; the colorful centuries long stories of NYC's Bowery culminate (sort of) with the follow-them-around documentary of the residents of Sunshine Hotel. The "hotel" is a turn of the century former factory that has been broken off into rooms about the size of a broom closet; typically referred to as a "flop house". The men (and one trans female); are as different as night and day, but share a common bond; life has failed them in some way. Their day to day life is surrounded by substance abuse, mental health issues, trash, bugs, rodents,disappointment, loneliness, and shattered dreams. These guys make the best of their situation with sad, haunting matter-of-fact acceptance. Released just before 9/11/01, the irony of the transformation of NYC isn't lost on the viewer as we see the Twin Towers in the background.
