King of New York

• Directed by Abel Ferrara
• September 28, 1990

A drug kingpin rebuilds his criminal empire after being released from prison while also attempting to be legitimate. I see a contradiction…

King of New York as a movie that was present in every video store I ever entered but not something I ever decided to rent. Times and tastes change/evolve so I find myself taking in a movie I ignored for no good reason other than the display was always faded.

Christopher Walken stars as drug lord Frank White and just owns the screen when he comes on. You know his character is dangerous and threatening just via Walken’s unique delivery. Throughout the movie he is working very hard to reestablish his criminal empire while also doing nice things for the locals like keeping a hospital open in a low-income area. The script tries to make him into a modern Robin Hood while forgetting Robin was fighting crushing taxation by the government and not looking to establish drug empire. In general the (criminal) characters are murderous businessmen who you are safe around unless killing you helps the bottom line.

As a parallel for the Robin Hood mythos it comes up short. Unlike Robin Hood, Frank White doesn’t actually accomplish anything. He begins to fund a hospital in a poor neighborhood. He starts to do good for the city and so on. It is all in the planning stages. It introduces stuff then abandons it.

Director Abel Ferrara did not go for flashy or over-the-top. It’s almost understated in comparison to many gang or crime thrillers. As a showcase for Christopher Walken’s talent this is excellent. He owns every scene he is in. He is a charismatic yet evil and like all of the best villain actors comes off as evil and dangerous without having to do too much.

There’s a point when Frank is on the subway and some hood ones show up. I don’t think we ever see them again despite him inviting them over to where he is staying because he has work for them. He has long-term associates that are not white that he keeps going back to but the subway guys? I don’t recall seeing them after that initial scene.

Was the lawyer Jennifer (Janet Julian), who just vanishes from the movie, supposed to be Maid Marian equivalent? If so she was a poor one. Once we see her get groped by White in the subway, we never see her again. She served to give the viewer a boob shot.

White is an outcast amongst his own criminal element because he’s willing to work with minorities. How progressive. He never squealed or sold anybody out for a better deal. Not sure if that was supposed to make up for pushing coke and rampant homicide. “Frank White may be a violent drug-pushing murderer but he ain’t no racist!”

He never becomes a strong folk hero, or a strong enemy. White skirts the law more than anything. Gets out and pushes things to the limit and does it so well he just doesn’t get caught. A figurative “Ha!” he says to the cops as he taunts them.

I would say the police get framed as morally gray. Certainly no Sheriff of Nottinghams here. There are good cops wanting to do things by the book and bad cops that feel they’ll never be able to actually get White so they’re willing to take it whatever steps they need to dispense a kind of justice to White.

There is some double dealing and set ups in the plot but it all feels a little haphazard. Or maybe it’s the muted climax which goes for authenticity over flashiness. White gets in a gun battle with honest cop Lieutenant Roy Bishop (Victor Argo) and suffers a severe womb before dying in a cab. The gun battle isn’t crazy or explosion failed. Nothing high-octane about it. The ending besides being muted feels like just an ending to end the film. It doesn’t pull things together and doesn’t seem like it was almost inevitable. They just needed to stop filming and here we go.

Despite some serious issues, this was an enjoyable movie mostly because of Christopher Walken. It’s another instance of casting being everything. When he was on the screen, the film was utterly magnetic. I could not look away. No shade on Fishburne or anybody else here but Walken made the movie.

I enjoyed King of New York, but it was missing that something special. Having said that I could still watch this again largely because of Christopher Walken.