Unsavory things are afoot in the backrooms.
Hidden just beyond the common walls of ordinary places is a secret separate zone of spatial discomfort and lots of cheap junk. With barely any production budget to speak of and some actors that are more than game, we witness a young aspiring auteur making his cinematic mark before our eyes. This is Sean Baker’s New York City mini-opus of street hustling and sudden parenthood, Prince of Broadway (2008).
It’s a frigid day in one of the last remnants of pre-gentrified New York City. Street hustler Lucky’s luck takes an unexpected turn when a former lover confronts him. She abruptly foists a two-year-old child upon him, claiming he’s their son, and now it’s his turn to take care of him. Uhhhhhh…. What now…?
We correctly deduce that Lucky is not exactly an experienced child-rearer. Not only does he not know the boy’s name, it doesn’t even occur to him until later that he doesn’t know. Diapers and crying and feeding and the sheer effort of simply trying to get around with a kid in tow… what’s a smooth-talking con man to do?
Baker, in the Criterion bonus features, is well aware that this plot contrivance is basically just a Three Men and a Baby scenario rendered as gritty indie drama. Prince of Broadway, though, works in spite of this. As film fans know by now, Baker is no fool when it comes to depicting unflinching tales of the poor and forgotten members of society. He’s amazing when it comes to casting, often going with highly unconventional choices, and rightly so. This project is no exception.
By everyone’s account and my own observation, Prince of Broadway is elevated across the board by the presence and assistance of real-life NYC street hustler turned lead actor, Prince Adu. Though Adu as Lucky is consistently excellent while carrying this very makeshift film, it appears he hasn’t had similar opportunities before or since.
That’s a great shame, as Adu reportedly not only put his all into his character, and greatly helped Baker and company make sure everything about this very specific world was as authentic as possible. Of course, it helps that Adu is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast, particularly Keyali Mayaga as Adu’s sophisticated girlfriend and Karren Karagulian as Adu’s boss who’s in a precarious marriage and in the precarious business of illegally selling counterfeit high-end handbags and sneakers.
Though Criterion’s disc offers two full-length audio commentaries, they are both from circa 2011, so do not expect contextualization in the face of Baker having since broken out as a critical darling. At the point of these recordings, he’d only begun that journey, mentioning in his own director’s commentary that Prince of Broadway has brought him new opportunities for world travel via various festivals, and so forth. His demeanor is a mix of genuine “this is so surreal” humility/disbelief with a touch of vindication.
After all the hustle, rush, sweet talking, and seat-of-the-pants craziness necessary in bringing something like Prince of Broadway to life, the satisfaction in its even moderate success is palpable in these commentaries. The first track, by far the better of the two, is Baker solo. He is strategically forthright about just about everything he can be forthright about, even as he is audibly struggling with exhaustion and on a big fat time crunch he keeps mentioning to get this commentary in the bag.
The other commentary, featuring producer and cowriter Darren Dean, associate producer and actor Victoria Tate, and actor Karren Karagulian, is less necessary. Again, this was recorded in 2011, meaning that about three years had passed since the shoot. A lot of, “Oh, I remember this day…”, followed by a moderately amusing, at best, anecdote. At times, the participants are more interested in getting more wine from their host, Sean Baker. It’s his apartment they’re recording in.
Though the extras on this disc are many, few are new. Most were created by Baker for a (presumably) 2011 DVD release, and effort that his physical media-loving self went all in on back then. One assumes that the production of this Criterion Blu-ray conflicted with his Anora goings-on. Here he provides a mere new short but sweet optional video introduction.
Also among the deluge of vintage bonus features carried over bonus features are archival interviews with Baker and actor Prince Adu, the latter of which is particularly valuable as Adu skipped being part of the group commentary and other things. The Baker material can, predictably, become redundant after a while, but it’s nevertheless better to have it here than not. He also provides two old behind-the-scenes documentaries, which provide additional insights.
Considering that this release offers a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by director Sean Baker and restoration supervisor Alex Coco, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, it’s quite fair to assume that this is the very best that the shot-on-video Prince of Broadway has ever looked and sounded. For those wishing to know the nuts and bolts of this undertaking, there’s a restoration demonstration featuring Baker and Coco available.
Here is Criterion’s official full list of features and boasts for this satisfying Blu-ray release:
• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Sean Baker and restoration supervisor Alex Coco, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Two audio commentaries: one featuring Baker and the other featuring producer and cowriter Darren Dean, associate producer and actor Victoria Tate, and actor Karren Karagulian
• New introduction by Baker
• Archival interviews with Baker and actor Prince Adu
• Two documentaries on the making of the film
• Restoration demonstration featuring Baker and Coco
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Robert Daniels
New cover by Drusilla Adeline/Sister Hyde, with additional photography by Ivory Woods