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Last Exit to Brooklyn

Play trailer Poster for Last Exit to Brooklyn R Released May 4, 1989 1h 42m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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65% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A homosexual factory worker (Stephen Lang) and a teenage hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) symbolize the damned in 1952 Brooklyn.
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Last Exit to Brooklyn

Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: C+ Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times These are fellow human beings who suffer, who are limited in their freedom to imagine greater happiness for themselves, and yet in their very misery they embody human striving. Rated: 3.5/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Entertainment Weekly Rated: C+ Jun 1, 1990 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) It is extremely sad and desolating, a spectacle of mass human desecration. [Full review in Spanish] Nov 29, 2022 Full Review Michael Bronski Gay Community News (Boston) Last Exit to Brooklyn is the sort of film you end up respecting rather than liking because it terrorizes your emotions rather than engaging them. Aug 29, 2022 Full Review Peter Bowen OutWeek What makes these stories utterly depressing is not the despair they disclose with routine banality, but the utterly relentless violence the film deploys against any character who even attempts to change his/her fate. May 20, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen J At first I thought this movie was overproduced. For example, the settings / scenes are almost unrealistic? But stick with it. The story does have some deep realities to it. Edit: my original post, above, was written before the movie ended. I'm in the last 20 minutes and bumped my rating up from 3.5 to 4.5 stars. This movie doesn't excellent job of the realities that some of us fall into. Incredible, and sad, and scary. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/25 Full Review Steve D sometimes frustrating but ahead of its time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/07/23 Full Review anne H I rate this film in my top ten. It is not for the squeamish. It is grim and gritty. Set in the 50's in downbeat Brooklyn it is based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr, (who has a small cameo in the film). The performances are top-notch with Jennifer Jason Leigh as Tralala and Stephen Lang as the troubled Harry Black shining through the bleakness. It really does have that Elia Kazan feel about it from the golden era of American cinema. There are no happy endings or heroes. It is a battle of survival in an insular world of poverty,drugs alcohol and petty crime. Juxtaposed to this is the most beautifully haunting soundtrack by Mark Knopfler. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/11/22 Full Review delysid d unpleasant from start to finish, horrible Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/21/22 Full Review Audience Member 예전에 봤을 때는 날것인 인간의 상처와 잔혹함에 충격적이었는데, 다시 보니 다소 작위적이고 극단적이다. 강렬했던 몇몇 장면은 여전히 생생했다. 제니퍼 제이슨 리의 독보적 매력. -2022.05.14.다시 봄(-1점) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Steve L This is an absolutely stellar adaptation of a literary masterpiece. Highly recommended, though it's definitely a trek through many hearts of darkness. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/06/21 Full Review Read all reviews
Last Exit to Brooklyn

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Cast & Crew

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Uli Edel

Director

Stephen Lang

Harry Black

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Tralala

Burt Young

Big Joe

Peter Dobson

Vinnie

Jerry Orbach

Boyce

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Last Exit to Brooklyn

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Movie Info

Synopsis A homosexual factory worker (Stephen Lang) and a teenage hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) symbolize the damned in 1952 Brooklyn.
Director
Uli Edel
Producer
Bernd Eichinger
Production Co
Allied Filmmakers
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 4, 1989, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 10, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Surround
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