Features: DVD
Editor's Note
MACARTHUR PARK is the powerful directorial debut of actor Billy Wirth (THE LOST BOYS, WAR PARTY). Wirth's film was initially intended as a documentary on the homeless drug addicts living in Los Angeles' once-elegant, but now crime-infested, MacArthur Park. While interviewing park residents for the documentary, Wirth learned of a script written by a former playwright-turned-crack-addict, Tyrone Atkins, who had lived in the park but was now serving time in prison. Atkins' manuscript was eventually found and filmed by Wirth as a loosely-disguised biographical fiction centered around park resident and former trumpet player Cody (Thomas Jefferson Byrd), who lost both his career and his family to crack cocaine addiction. Byrd leads a large ensemble that cast includes Ellen Cleghorne, Lori Petty, Miguel Nunez, and real-life rappers Bad Azz, B-Real, and Sticky Fingaz as the park's other drug-addled citizens. The vibrant hip-hop soundtrack--composed by Jane's Addiction's Stephen Perkins and featuring an electrifying cover of "MacArthur Park" by Macy Gray--adds a gritty, authentic vibe to the film's portrayal of drug addiction and broken souls.
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