Last Exit to Brooklyn

Well crafted, searingly acted film (especially by Leigh and Arquette) but an unremitting ugliness and nastiness in tone stops it from scoring a bullseye; serves well as an 80s rebuke to anyone who idealised the 1950s; those were the days indeed! Mark Knopfler's Morricone-esque score a haunting work of art on its own terms.

Ohh yeah, the filthy, filthy '50s. Taking the incredibly haphazard, convoluted multiple narratives of the book and stringing them cleanly into one, whilst remaining faithful to the offensive dialogue and city-orientated characters. The film sways between utter misery and worthwhile redemption, the mixture of the two giving the film the pathos it properly needs.

okay movie

It is difficult to watch sometimes, messy, nasty, but I am aware the book is a lot more cruel to the characters than the movie is. It's not really too good as far as movies go but something keeps you watching it, anyway, maybe just to see if there's any redemption to the misery the characters are going through.

No one does misery porn like Hubert Selby.

The craft and the acting make it worth a peek. It's not exactly uplifting, mind you, and I don't really know what to do with it other than try to shake how dark things turn out for the main characters.

I watched it right after reading Shelby's book, and I found it boring and lacking that punch that novel had. The plot is changed, made easier to follow, and softened (film was rated R by MPAA, but compared to book it's PG only). Cinematography, editing, even acting is on a lower budget Hollywood film level of the time. Do yourself a favor and read the book instead.

An interesting and worthwhile film, if messy, sensationalistic and devoid of likable characters. I'm not sure whether or not that was author Hubert Selby Jr.'s intention, though he clearly set out to paint a grotesque picture of Brooklyn. What wowed me the least were the moral equivalences that, per my inkling, the adaptation seems to draw between the characters; I don't feel like a "gold-digging" prostitute is comparable to physical assailants.

It plays like a John Waters film without the camp which makes for a pretty rough, unwatchable film. It doesn't help that it has one of the worst acting ensembles ever. The casting is bad, but the script is worse. There's nothing honest or sincere about this film. It's bad melodrama and a shit load of gratuitous violence. Admittedly, my expectations were probably a bit high since Edel directed my absolute favorite film ever made, Christiane F, a cinematic masterpiece beyond words.

lol

Gripping performance from Leigh. This film is really depressing and it must have been hard living during those times. The ending left me feeling empty.

brutal