The Prince of Broadway
Film Reviewed by Kam Williams
African Street Hustler’s Life Complicated by Baby-Mama Drama
Prince of Broadway [2010]
Unrated
Running time: 100 Minutes
Distributor: Elephant Eye Films
Film Review by Kam Williams
Excellent (4 stars)
Lucky (Prince Adu) and his boss, Levon (Karren Karagulian), are a couple of immigrants, the former from Ghana, the latter from Lebanon. Together, they run a shady operation selling counterfeit merchandise out of the backroom of a shop in midtown Manhattan. Lucky works the sidewalk, pressuring passersby to enter the store by whispering promises of discount-priced knockoffs of products like sneakers and designer bags.
However, Lucky’s job becomes even more challenging when Linda (Kat Sanchez), an ex-girlfriend he hasn’t seen in a couple of years, shows up and hands him a toddler (Aiden Noesi) right on the street. After saying that he’s the father, she takes off in a car with her new boyfriend and disappears without ever bothering to mention the child’s name.

So unfolds Prince of Broadway, a harrowing baby-mama drama, "presented by" Lee Daniels. It’s hard to say exactly what the Oscar-nominated director’s contribution to the project might be, since his name doesn’t otherwise appear in the credits. But this relentlessly-grim tale of survival does resemble Precious more than any other picture in recent memory.
For, the screen is littered with trashy characters who look like they should be settling their differences on The Jerry Springer Show. In addition, the tension is similarly wound around a question of paternity to be resolved by the dramatic announcement of DNA test results.
The movie marks the noteworthy directorial debut of one Sean Baker, who credits his flick’s super-realistic feel to encouraging his cast to improvise their dialogue. New York City as a disturbing dystopia where it’s hard out there not just for a pimp, but for an African scam artist, too!

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