An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Acting
Cassel's unhinged, improvised menace steals every frame.
Cinematography
Grainy 16mm black-and-white that screams 1992 East Village.
Writing
Buscemi's screenplay is painfully specific about broke artist delusion.
Director
Alexandre Rockwell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Seymour Cassel and Steve Buscemi improvised most of their scenes; Rockwell just kept the cameras rolling. The $800,000 budget came from selling foreign rights before shooting a frame.
This is peak 'Sundance '92' energy — made right between Reservoir Dogs and Clerks, when indie film meant 16mm and actual financial desperation. Tarantino loved it so much he cast Cassel in Rushmore.
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