Gimme the Loot

Leon’s breezy Bronx tale is a true original, a fresh and light-hearted take on the constant hustle of inner-city life that boasts endearingly authentic performances from Hickson and Washington and some of the snappiest dialogue you’ll hear all year.

These two trash-talkin’ Picassos [Malcolm and Sofia] may or may not end up getting their due, but Leon and his two extraordinary actors (especially Washington) have already put us squarely on the side of the beautiful losers regardless. It’s a triumph of the underdog in more ways than one. And that final shot would make Ozu beam.

Adam Leon brings wit and genuine suspense to the various scenes of haggling, scamming, and petty theft. The colorful characters vary in age and class, though to Leon’s credit he doesn’t make a big deal of this; the movie is endearingly relaxed about the homogeneity of modern New York, while its feistiness and street-level detail evoke such Depression-era comedies as Raoul Walsh’s Me and My Gal and Roy Del Ruth’s Taxi!