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Prince of Broadway Movie Review

Prince of Broadway is a 2008 independent drama film directed by Sean Baker and starring Prince Adu and Karren Karagulian. It was Baker’s first really strong effort.

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“My dad had a dog called Prince“

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Lucky is a street-smart hustler working the streets of New York City, selling name brand knock-offs and turning a big profit. However, his life experiences a shake-up when his ex-girlfriend shows up with the son he never knew he had. Although Baker had already embarked on depicting the life in NYC realistically in ‘Take Out’, this was a much stronger and more engaging take on a similar story.

This is a very understated and extremely grounded movie and it’s only for those who have indie film sensibilities as the technical aspects are quite mediocre. Baker directed and wrote it so well, but the editing, cinematography and other aspects are obviously limited.

But this movie is worth seeing for said realism alone. When you finish watching it, you will feel as if you’ve just met these people. That’s how real they felt. Prince Adu was quite good as Lucky and he is your standard black guy doing hustle jobs and not wanting to commit to anything. This baby arriving to his life to shake him up and make him grow up was admittedly a very familiar premise seen in multiple other movies, but this one took that premise to the next level in terms of painfully honest details – for example, there is so much poop in this movie.

Prince of Broadway also worked in the other characters. The two women were well realized and quite sympathetic while Karren Karagulian was expectedly terrific. It was nice seeing him so early and he reminded me of his character in ‘Anora’, though this one had even less control. The dynamic between the two actors was quite strong.

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The movie doesn’t have a lot going for it in terms of the plot as this is quite a simple affair, but it was elevated thanks to superb dialogue and a lovely recreation of the lifestyles of minorities in New York City and what their everyday lives feel like. The comedic touches also worked as the tone was deftly handled.