19-year old “King of Alphabet City” Johnny (Vincent Spano) is a drug dealer and a collector for the mob. He also torches buildings, intimidates nightclub owners and generally keeps his lieutenants in line.
But Johnny decides to give up his life of crime when the gangsters he works for order him to burn down the Lower East Side tenement building in which his mother lives.
The mobsters do not take kindly to being defied, and Johnny now faces a battle to protect his family – he has an artist wife with a loft in SoHo and a baby – from recriminations.
The most mainstream movie directed by underground filmmaker Amos Poe has a great performance by Spano but virtually no plot. When Spano is centre stage this violent slice-of-life drama crackles with menacing intensity. Otherwise, it’s a rather bland affair that goes over too much familiar ground.
Johnny
Vincent Spano Angela
Kate Vernon Lippy
Michael Winslow Mama
Zohra Lampert Sophia
Jami Gertz Gino
Raymond Serra Juani
Daniel Jordano Tony
Kenny Marino
Director
Amos Poe
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