Much more than hit-you-over-the-head conflict and drug trading

It’s easy to judge Liberty Kid harshly on the grounds that films about working-class men in New York’s outer boroughs have been done, but this trek through The Big Apple’s grittiest terrain is much more than hit-you-over-the-head conflict and drug trading.

Previously lauded films like Eric Eason’s 2002 Sundance Special Jury Prize winner Manito seemed like such extreme ventures into verite affect that the category of character and genre looked like it was staring down the barrel of obsolescence. Ilya Chaiken’s approach to these characters and their conflicts is not actually novel, which is part of why it’s so effective.

Derrick (Al Thompson) and his caustic-but-loyal friend Tico (Kareem Saviñon) are dropouts who work concessions on Liberty Island. As their job is menial and unfulfilling, they find ways to enjoy life after work. Derrick’s nickname is “peace pipe.” A Dominican without citizenship, he’s dark and could mix with both the black cliques and the Latin ones in high school. A natural diplomat, he’s great at conciliation and clearly destined for greater things. Tico, on the other hand, is rough. He’s adaptive, but lacks direction. But he’s very ambitious when it comes to women. The friends seem like they should have nothing to do with each other, yet they’re inseparable.

They’re working by the Statue of Liberty when the twin towers are destroyed. The event, as a national and psychic tragedy, is at the forefront of this story because when the towers go down, Liberty Island is poetically closed. Tico and Derrick lose their jobs indefinitely and spend months searching for replacement work. This is when Derrick takes his high school equivalency, and gets targeted by army recruiters. Ultimately the only work the two friends can get is dealing drugs. When Tico gets arrested, Derrick joins the army.

For as volatile as the subject matter is here, Liberty Kid is shockingly subtle. Massive aspects about the relationship between Tico and Derrick are only inferred and the performances of the leads are really quite good. Yet the most exciting contribution of the film is the inference that this story is a slice of urban life taken from a community that’s ground zero for the war, for the army and for the neglect of the current administration.

Distributor: TBD
Cast: Al Thompson, Kareen Saviñon, Raquel Jordan, Rosa Ramos and Anny Mariano
Director/Screenwriter: Ilya Chaiken
Producers: Larry Fessenden, Mike S. Ryan and Roger Kass
Genre: Drama
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 92 min.
Release date: TBD