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R-Xmas (2002)
Runtime: 83 mins
Synopsis: An idilic Christmas is about to be shattered by a bitter drug-related feud in upper-Manhattan. A family enjoy the festive season, safe in their picturesque apartment funded entirely by drug-money. The fun soon turns to fear when the husband is kidnapped and held to ransom. The kidnapper... An idilic Christmas is about to be shattered by a bitter drug-related feud in upper-Manhattan. A family enjoy the festive season, safe in their picturesque apartment funded entirely by drug-money. The fun soon turns to fear when the husband is kidnapped and held to ransom. The kidnapper demands drugs and money, and the husband has the connections to meet the demands. The festive season, combined with a drug-drought in the city causes problems, and to make matters worse the wife of the family is starting to have doubts over the authenticity of her husband's abduction. This is a taut, tense thriller directed by Abel Ferrara (BAD LIEUTENANT). [More]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Ice T, Drea de Matteo, Lillo Brancato
Reviews
De Matteo ... boasts enough intelligence, attitude and ferocity to ignite even the most mundane of moments.
Can't quite deliver the goods, but it still provides a few highs along the way.
Highlighted by a gritty style and an excellent cast, it’s better than one might expect when you look at the list of movies starring Ice-T in a major role.
The heart of the film is the drop dead sexy Drea De Matteo who, as the mother and real head of the family, commands every scene.
The main characters are simply named The Husband, The Wife and The Kidnapper, emphasizing the disappointingly generic nature of the entire effort.
Once Ice-T sticks his mug in the window of the couple's BMW and begins haranguing the wife in bad stage dialogue, all credibility flies out the window.
Imagine O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi relocated to the scuzzy underbelly of NYC's drug scene. Merry friggin' Christmas!
Ferrara directs the entire film with the kind of detachment that makes any given frame look like a family's custom-made Christmas card.
R Xmas offers a poetic and profane ambiguity that's vintage Ferrara.


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