Street Smart (1987)

Director:

Jerry Schatzberg

Writer:

David Freeman (writer)

Release Date:

20 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Everything you say can and will be held against you.

Plot:

A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.

Plot Keywords:

Pimp | Murder | Stabbing | African American | Criminal

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Christopher Reeve	...	Jonathan Fisher
Kathy Baker	...	Punchy
Mimi Rogers	...	Alison Parker
Jay Patterson	...	Leonard Pike
Andre Gregory	...	Ted Avery
Morgan Freeman	...	Fast Black
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Harriet
Frederick Rolf	...	Joel Davis
Erik King	...	Reggie
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Art Sheffield
Shari Hilton	...	Darlene
Donna Bailey	...	Yvonne
Ed Van Nuys	...	Judge
Daniel Nalbach	...	Singer
Rick Aviles	...	Solo

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (TVC)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Iceland:16 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Golan-Globus Productions

Trivia:

The Cannon Film Group agreed to finance this film as a pet project of Christopher Reeve on the condition that he appear in at least one more Superman film, which they had recently acquired the rights to. The result was this and _Superman IV: the Quest for Peace (1987)_.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Romance Without Finance

A Great Performance By Kathy Baker

Most viewers give their applause to Morgan Freeman for his performance as a Manhattan street pimp named "Fast Black". But the main note of interest to me in this film is the performance of Kathy Baker as a sympathetic hooker named "Punchy". The story is set entirely in Manhattan, and the main character is a magazine writer named Jonathan (Christopher Reeve). He unwittingly gets involved in a court case involving Fast Black, when he writes a fictional story that everyone assumes to be true.

Except for Punchy, none of the characters are particularly interesting. They seem two-dimensional and rather shallow. The plot's pace, by today's standards, is somewhat slow. Scenes involve long camera "takes", and the script is heavy on dialogue. Color cinematography is adequate.

With its grimy, dirty urban setting, its tawdry characters, and its slow pace, "Street Smart" reminds me a little of "The Panic In Needle Park" (1971), not really surprising since both films were directed by the same man, Jerry Schatzberg.

To its credit, the story in "Street Smart" does address a legal issue faced by contemporary writers. How does a writer convince a court that the writer's "notes" about an article don't exist, when in fact they don't? I guess the writer needs to be aware of all contingencies, especially a high-profile writer like Jonathan who invents characters and stories and then tries to pass them off as non-fiction.

While this film may be entertaining and/or informative to some viewers, it just doesn't work for me, aside from the performance of Kathy Baker, mostly because I just couldn't get interested in the film's characters or their tawdry drama.