# Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)

### reviewed by
Brian L. Johnson

                               LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN
                           A film review by Ken Johnson
                            Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson

103 min., R, Drama, 1990, U.S./German Director: Uli Edel Cast: Stephen Lang, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Burt Young, Christopher Murney, Jerry Orbach, Alexis Arquette, Stephen Baldwin, John Costelloe, Cameron Johann, Ricki Lake, Frank Military, Camille Saviola, Zette

This film tells the story of several people living in Brooklyn, New York. Jennifer Jason Leigh is a prostitute who gets soldiers to go with her to a secluded place and then robs them blind. Burt Young finds out that his teenage daughter Ricki Lake is pregnant. Jerry Orbach is running a strike that has been going on for six months without any results.

LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN is a very good, but very dramatic, film. I fully recommend that you rent this film from your local video store. LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN has probably been over looked by most people because it doesn't look very good. They are wrong. I give LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN a four on a scale of zero to five. LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN is rated R for explicit language, adult situations, female nudity, violence, rape, and strong sexual content.

The actors in this film do a great job. They all are very convincing. The two actors that stand out the most are Burt Young, who I think gives the best performance in this film, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Leigh, I think, puts in the best performance of her career, which raises her above the exploitation films that she used to star in (like FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH). Jerry Orbach also puts in a great performance, but he isn't on the screen that much. The person who I think put in the worst performance in the film was Stephen Baldwin. He could have put a little more effort into his role to make it more believable.

LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN was very well written, although most of the major film critics seemed to think that the film was over dramatic and not worth seeing (Roger Ebert excluded), and kept me interested throughout the film. I didn't get bored at all during the film. The characters are interesting and I was interested in what happened to them. This film, unlike what the box cover might suggest, is not an exploitation film but a serious drama.

Uli Edel, a first-time director (I think), did a great job with his direction and I think has a future in movies. The locations were good; most of them were really filmed in Brooklyn.

    Ken J.
    blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu

    .

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