Sucker Free City

Sucker Free City
UK DVD cover
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Alex Tse
Directed by	Spike Lee
Starring	Ben Crowley Ken Leung Anthony Mackie
Music by	Terence Blanchard
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Spike Lee Sam Kitt
Producer	Preston Holmes
Cinematography	Cesar R. Charlone
Editor	Barry Alexander Brown
Running time	113 minutes
Production company	40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
Original release
Network	Showtime
Release	September 16, 2004 (2004-09-16)

Sucker Free City is a 2004 American crime drama television film directed by Spike Lee and written by Alex Tse. The film examines white, black, and Chinese characters in San Francisco and the conflicts they encounter with each other. The film was intended to be the pilot for a Showtime television series, but Showtime declined to pick up the series. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and was subsequently broadcast on Showtime.

The title of the film derives from "Sucka Free", a slang term in reference to the city often used by natives of Hunters Point and The Fillmore. The term was popularized by the rappers San Quinn, JT the Bigga Figga (who has a cameo in the film) and most notably the song "Sucka Free" from Rappin' 4-Tay's 1994 album Don't Fight the Feelin'.

Synopsis

The film follows three young men as they are drawn into lives of crime. Nick uses his entry-level corporate job to commit credit card fraud and deals drugs on the side. K-Luv is a member of the "V-Dubs" ("Visitacion Valley Mafia"), an African-American street gang. Lincoln is a rising figure in the Chinese mafia.

Gentrification forces Nick's family to move out of their home in the Mission District into Hunter's Point, where they are harassed by the V-Dubs. K-Luv's side business of selling bootleg compact discs leads him to enlist Nick's help to bootleg CDs and to negotiate a truce with Lincoln. Lincoln conducts an affair with his boss's daughter Angela, a Stanford student engaged to medical student classmate Edwin.

Cast

• Ben Crowley as Nick Wade
• Ken Leung as Lincoln Ma
• Anthony Mackie as Keith "K-Luv"
• Darris Love as "Sleepy"
• Laura Allen as Samantha Wade
• T.V. Carpio as Angela Tsing
• Kathy Baker as Cleo Wade
• James Hong as Kwok
• Lamont Bentley as Ahmir
• Ewan Chung as Edwin Leong
• Omari Hardwick as Dante Ponce
• Marguerite Moreau as Jessica Epstein
• Judy Pace as Mama June
• Emilio Rivera as Detective Zepada
• John Savage as Anderson Wade
• Eddie Shin as Michael
• Malieek Straughter as Leon
• Jim Brown as Don Strickland
• George Cheung as Mr. Tsing
• Chi Moui Lo as Tuk
• Milo Stokes as "Lil O"
• J.T. The Bigga Figga as "Killa Ski"

External links

• Sucker Free City at IMDb
• San Francisco Chronicle article on the making of the film (Part 1)
• San Francisco Chronicle article on the making of the film (Part 2)
• The making — and unmaking — of Spike Lee's San Francisco take on 'The Wire'