Laws of Gravity

Stars: Adam Trese, Peter Greene, Edie Falco. Inspired by Martin Scorsese's 1973 Mean Streets, first-time director Nick Gomez' shoestring-budget (under $40,000) look at lowlife in Brooklyn appeared on over 25 "10 best" lists for 1992 films. The ensemble cast is impressive. Peter Greene plays Jimmy, a small-time grifter who's content to skate along on the minor profits of petty crime and live a low-profile life with his lady Denise (Edie Falco). Unfortunately, Jimmy's hothead friend Jonny (Adam Trese) is a walking attitude looking for static, and when the pair get involved with a wacko contraband gun mover named Frankie, the elements are all in place for a fairly volatile macho dance to the death. Still, even though the story is predictable and the overly testosteronal pushing and shoving matches repetitive and boring, the dialogue often zings and the characters constantly command our attention. This is the main attraction of Gomez' film: it's a gritty slice of life filled with raw street language and dim visions of getting ahead. But, storywise, Laws of Gravity is strictly "B"-movie stuff. The critical attention had less to do with the movie's merit, than with the fact that as an upper middle class bunch, film critics who wouldn't set foot in the movie's neighborhood got a vicarious glimpse of the less fortunate in life through the protective prism of a film projector. Audience: Although it brought in chump change at the boxoffice, the lavish critical attention has helped flame the public's interest, and taken for what it is--a slice of life, not Oscar material--Laws of Gravity should have a wider audience.