| The United States is all about money, not the quality of life, opines Puerto Rican immigrant Victor Rosa (played by John Leguizamo) in an early voiceover monologue as the film Empire begins. Whereas many American films glorify lawbreakers, notably Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Sting (1973), those involving drugs are often filled with degradation and violence, and Empire is no exception. Victor controls a few streets of the South Bronx drug trade, which he names his “Empire,” and he markets his mixture of heroin under the trade name “Empire.” When the film begins, a rival gang tries to move in on a few feet of Victor’s territory, thereby provoking a confrontation, violence, and ultimately the death of Tito, the rival gang leader. Tito’s gang, in turn, seeks to even the score. The police stay out, hoping that one gang will eliminate the other. The Colombian supplier (played by Isabella Rossellini) is not happy at all the instability, however, and soon Victor is on such bad terms with the rival gang that he wants to get out of the rackets. His girlfriend Carmen (played by Delilah Cotto) provides a link to a new career on Wall Street. Carmen’s girlfriend Trish (played by Denise Richards) has a boyfriend, Jack Wimmer (played by Peter Sarsgaard), who is a Wall Street tycoon. He is interested in the fact that Victor can lay his hands on a few million dollars in cash. When Trish objects that Victor is a gangster, Jack tells her that he is as legit as many of his other clients, and he then names several top-rated companies that provide the backbone of Wall Street. Despite Carmen’s warning, Victor salivates when Jack offers him a double-your-money investment. Victor assembles $1 million from several of his safes in retail stores throughout his territory, and soon he receives a check for $2 million. Jack also offers Victor free rent in a downtown Manhattan loft, so Victor furnishes the pad for Carmen, who is now pregnant with Victor’s child. Although obvious to filmviewers, the $2 million is bait for a major swindle. Hungry for more easy money, Victor begs Jack for another investment opportunity, and the scam unfolds. Jack now wants $4.5 million in cash, so Victor assembles $3 million of his own money and $1.5 million from his Colombian connection. The latter insists that the money is conditional on eliminating the successor in his gang, who has become a problem. Although Victor turns up his nose at his former neighborhood after he moves to Manhattan, he lacks the heart to kill his former chum, but the enforcer for the Colombian druglady follows Victor to his meeting with his successor and does the job instead. Soon, Jack skips town with the $4.5 million, vacating his office, disconnecting all his telephones, and stripping the loft of all furnishings. Victor, in short, is broke and homeless, now on the hit list of the Colombian druglady. Victor’s solution is to abandon moneymaking and to embrace the good life, so he returns to Puerto Rico with his bride and son to run a tourist restaurant. But is there is a happy ending? The clue, provided throughout, is that Empire, directed and written by Franc. Reyes, is peppered with many of Victor’s voiceovers. MH |