Product Details

• Actors: Vincent Spano, Tony Lo Bianco, Stephen Mendillo, Chris Cooper, Joe Morton
• Directors: John Sayles
• Writers: John Sayles
• Producers: Harold Welb, Jo Throckmorton, John Sloss, Maggie Renzi, Sarah Green
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: September 12, 1995
• Run Time: 129 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302376017
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,233 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Director John Sayles did the unthinkable and managed to sum up all the problems of urban life in one beautifully assembled jigsaw puzzle of a film. Combining characters from across all strata of one New Jersey city, he makes it clear that old-boy politics, corruption, and urban rage form an interlocking cage that seems to keep hope for the future locked away from our grasp. At heart, it's a story of fathers and sons, with sleazy contractor Tony Lo Bianco trying to reach out to son Vincent Spano, who wants none of his father's business. Add a racial incident, a mayor on the take, political activists, a black politician trying to balance what's right with what's expedient, and a gaggle of small-time crooks and you have a terrific, telling story of urban malaise, black and white, with a great cast that also includes Joe Morton, Angela Bassett, Chris Cooper, and Gina Gershon. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pay no attention to Maltin..., February 1, 2000

By 

roland b. duke III - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Hope [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is every bit as good as the Amazon review says. Reminiscent in some ways of "Bonfire of The Vanities", it is a much, much better film than that one was, despite an obviously much lower-budget shooting. If you are a Cincinnatian, you will have a little bit of side-fun trying to identify many of the Cincinnati locales where much of this film was shot. It has a totally credible urban grittiness and one is not sure after the end of the film just how ironic the title was intended to be. Another film to see if you like this one is "City Hall", with Pacino,Cusack and Aiello.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly didactic, immensely powerful, February 1, 2000

By 

Benjamin J. Zelkowicz (Valencia, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Hope [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Thouht this film does not connect with the seamless mastery of Lone Star or even Matewan, it has an undeniable haunting power, especially in its lengthy and distanced final image. The major flaw in this film, and in Sayles films in general, is his tendency to use the screenplay as a pulpit, creating characters and dialogue to make an often heavy handed statement. Take for example, the two griping women who complain that no one listens to them, or the militant Black Muslim. Fortunately, Sayles quickly leaves the preaching behind and allows his characters, their dillemmas, and their interactions to move the audience subtly, emotionally, and profoundly. The intertwining narratives are constantly engaging- whenever the film would move from one to another, i would find myself excited to return to that thread. joe morton is the standout from the film, but the performances are universlly excellent. Highly reccomended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sayles is a Master, May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: City of Hope [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've seen several John Sayles films and have been more or less impressed with all of them. This finely wrought and under appreciated little treasure, though, is probably his most complex and evocative. It's a formidable task forging a coherent drama out of the loose ends of lives with which Sayles starts. All this done in the milieu of a corrupt city, tangled relationships and hopelessness. Even the humour is bleak. The enigmatic figure of Asteroid, a raving street person provides continuity to the disjoints and reflects the futility and lack of meaning in the lives here. It is a dramatic device of real brilliance. The ironic title alludes to the fact that the major characters, the Father and Son, are trying to reinvent themselves in a nobler image.. with tragic consequences, as the corruption lashes back at them. Whether it was worth the attempt is left to the viewer. The film ends without fully resolving the tragedy, a spark of hope remains.