Sucker Free City

Much better than I expected - more real and gritty depiction of street life in SF than most NYC-based movies. Believable and gripping story line. Negative: Most of the story lines were left wide open w/out any closure. In retrospect, seems obvious it was a pilot for something bigger - just doesn't stand well on its own - just leaves the viewer wanting more. I would definitely watch this series in its entirety. Acting: Excellent acting from a group of unknowns - and a couple good cameos from seasoned actors. Direction: most of the scenes were very tight - no-nonsense, great editing. Camera-work: google-earth (like) opening credits and use of geography was really cool to show where scenes were happening. Some old-time TV scrolling narratives/history were a nice touch. Good recommendation ROH.

While watching this movie I was thinking to myself "What an interesting plot with all these people's stories intertwined". Five minutes later it ended just as I was getting engaged in the movie and the characters.

I'd probably give the film an 8 if it hadn't ended so abruptly. I actually came here to look for a sequel because I wanted to know how things ended. I learned from other reviews that it's a pilot episode for a series that was never released.

I suppose that as a pilot for a TV series, it was great, but as a standalone movie, its inconclusive ending is really disappointing. If you don't mind a movie ending with lots of loose ends, you may enjoy this film very much. If you do, save yourself the time and watch another movie instead.

I'm not an expert, but I enjoyed how the lights and music were adapted to different sceneries (e.g. more red-ish light and Chinese-sounding music in Chinatown).

Regarding another review: I don't care if the characters don't wear genuine SF "gangsta" clothing. It's a movie for ***'s sake, not a documentary! You can't expect a fictional story to be entirely real. As a Scandinavian, I found it to be fairly realistic.

Leon is one of the most entertaining sociopaths I've ever seen depicted. Hilarious and scary at the same time. Showtime dropped the ball on picking up the series

If he wanted to be accurate, he should have chosen some Frisco natives and not a bunch of NY actors who know nothing about the Sucka Free (not Sucker Free). I've lived in SF my entire life, and folks here do not talk or act the way these actors did. Everything was over-dramatized, and the only cat I saw from the Bay was JT the Bigga Figga with his little cameo as a rapper. No shock that he was the only one in the film who really dressed like cats out here (ie his Warriors jersey). Not once did I notice anyone wearing any Giants or 9ers gear; instead he fitted them in some cheesy made-up SF or Oakland jerseys that aren't even sold around here. HP has no bowling alleys, black and Asian gangbangers do NOT wear head or wristbands with the colors of Africa or China's Olympic team, nor does every Chinese gangster wear a Yao Ming jersey and try and sound black while shooting hoops. Further, while there now is a significant yuppie community that has invaded the Mission, all that was shown was some white dude and a self-proclaimed "100% West Coast Boriqua." This is NOT New York! Puerto Ricans here are few and far between, and the Latinos in the Mission are very, very different from the ONE that was shown here, who was without a doubt from NY. Also, HP is not the only black neighborhood in the City. An accurate depiction would have shown the drama between HP sets in their own hood as well as vs. Fillmore, Sunnydale, Lakeview, etc.

This film could've been much better if Lee had done some more homework and had a better storyline to work with.

I have to say that I was surprised at how excellent this film was for a "made for Showtime" film (thought I shouldn't have been that surprised since it was directed by Spike Lee) -- it's got an engaging and strong plot line, extremely strong and realistic characters, solid acting, and it keeps moving at a good pace, yet doesn't bombard you with superfluous action, camera tricks, or extraneous pumped-up music.

My only criticism is that it sort of peters out at the end with a somewhat weak, anticlimactic (nearly ambivalent) ending. But don't let my small criticism discourage you from checking this flick out -- it's definitely worth your time to seek it out.