Rooftops (film)
Encyclopedia
Rooftops is a 1989 crime
and dance
drama film
directed by Robert Wise
, which follows the misadventures of two homeless teenagers in Manhattan
.
This is the second of Robert Wise's film about poor young New Yorkers, the first being the famous West Side Story
, This is Also Wise's Last Film.
the wrong area and a local crew of misfits seeks to teach him a lesson. A chase ensues through the streets of New York City, through abandoned buildings and on rooftops. Squeak is finally cornered before his best friend and the film's main hero, T, comes to his rescue. The rest of the film focuses on T and his group of friends, among them a reformed prostitute, a young Latina, and a deaf basketball
player.
T is famous among the neighbourhood for taking place in a dance called "combat" in which "combatants" attempt to force each other off of a square fighting surface through only intimidation, no contact is allowed. T falls in love with Elana and she reciprocates his feelings. T is also exposed to Capoeira
, which he naturally compares to his own fighting style.
The main antagonists are a group of drug dealers who are slowly taking over the area's abandoned buildings, stringing out the local youth and establishing themselves as the law of the streets. Squeak crosses the drug dealers and pays for it with his life. The rest of the movie follows T and his friends quest for redemption at the hands of the drug dealers, and ends in a climactic rooftop battle.
. Roger Ebert
opined that the film was unrealistic and sugarcoated the grim realities facing homeless teenagers.
The current DVD is a double feature release with A Midsummer's Night Rave.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
and dance
Dance film
Dance Film is the creation of choreography that exists only in the medium of film/video. At its best, DanceFilm uses filming and editing techniques to create twists in the plotline, multiple layers of reality, and emotional/psychological depth....
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
, which follows the misadventures of two homeless teenagers in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
This is the second of Robert Wise's film about poor young New Yorkers, the first being the famous West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
, This is Also Wise's Last Film.
Plot outline
The film opens with a chase. Squeak, the main character's best friend has taggedGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
the wrong area and a local crew of misfits seeks to teach him a lesson. A chase ensues through the streets of New York City, through abandoned buildings and on rooftops. Squeak is finally cornered before his best friend and the film's main hero, T, comes to his rescue. The rest of the film focuses on T and his group of friends, among them a reformed prostitute, a young Latina, and a deaf basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player.
T is famous among the neighbourhood for taking place in a dance called "combat" in which "combatants" attempt to force each other off of a square fighting surface through only intimidation, no contact is allowed. T falls in love with Elana and she reciprocates his feelings. T is also exposed to Capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...
, which he naturally compares to his own fighting style.
The main antagonists are a group of drug dealers who are slowly taking over the area's abandoned buildings, stringing out the local youth and establishing themselves as the law of the streets. Squeak crosses the drug dealers and pays for it with his life. The rest of the movie follows T and his friends quest for redemption at the hands of the drug dealers, and ends in a climactic rooftop battle.
Cast
- Jason GedrickJason GedrickJason Gedrick is an American actor best known for his work on the television series Murder One and Boomtown and the motion picture Iron Eagle....
- Troy BeyerTroy BeyerTroy Yvette Beyer is an American film director, screenwriter and actress.-Life and career:Born in New York City to an African American mother and a Jewish father, Beyer began her acting career with a role on the children’s program Sesame Street when she was just four years old...
- Luis GuzmánLuis GuzmánLuis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
plays a small role in the film. - Lauren TomLauren TomLauren Tom is an American actress and voice actress perhaps best known for her roles as Lena St Clair in The Joy Luck Club, Julie in the TV series Friends, and for providing the voices for both mother and daughter characters on two animated TV comedy series: on Futurama she voices Amy Wong and her...
plays a small role in the film.
Critical reception
The film was not well-received by critics. The film has a composite score of 0 (the lowest possible rating) on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
opined that the film was unrealistic and sugarcoated the grim realities facing homeless teenagers.
DVD release
Platinum Disc released the film onto DVD in 2002, but the DVD was in full screen and did not contain any bonus material. That DVD has since been discontinued.The current DVD is a double feature release with A Midsummer's Night Rave.