King of New York (1990): B+

Though disavowed by director Abel Ferrara (on a recent DVD commentary track) as polished to the point of being “fascistic,” King of New York remains deliciously indecent, its extravagantly stylish mise-en-scène and cast of well-known faces doing nothing to overshadow the rampant degeneracy and moral/spiritual confliction that permeates this urban gangster saga. Ruthless drug kingpin Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from prison and sets about reclaiming his turf by eliminating the competition, a plan of attack that not only feeds his insatiable hunger for money and power, but also provides him with the funds necessary to philanthropically subsidize a failing South Bronx hospital. A man with an angel and devil on each shoulder, White proceeds to murder his rivals, grope his lawyer/girlfriend’s naked breasts on a subway car (and then hire the very muggers looking to relieve him of his wallet), and take a bullet in the gut from some cops (led by the upstanding Victor Argo and bloodthirsty David Caruso and Wesley Snipes), his contradictory selfish/altruistic impulses never to be properly reconciled. Ferrara’s surprisingly elegant direction of this violently sordid material feels like a dirty joke, in the same way that Walken’s iconic White masks his ruthless, violent venality under a façade of designer suits, perfectly coiffed hair and devious smiles.