'Empire' gives fresh traction to well-worn plot path

By Marshall Fine
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

EMPIRE (Rated R for profanity, graphic violence, sexuality, nudity) Three Stars (Good). A strong (if ultimately predictable) tale of a heroin dealer who tries to go legit and finds it's hard to leave the old life — and the old neighborhood — behind. Starring John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards. Directed by Franc Reyes. Universal Pictures, 95 minutes.

As Victor Rosa, played by John Leguizamo, discovers, trying to go legit isn't as simple as wanting it for yourself. There are other people in your life that your decisions affect, and not all of them in a positive way. So they have a certain incentive to keep you where you are.

Thanks to sharply etched performances by Leguizamo and Peter Sarsgaard, "Empire" hits a groove of tough-minded entertainment, despite working familiar territory.

Leguizamo plays Victor, a South Bronx heroin dealer with a mind for business. He knows all of the other dealers in his area because they all buy from the same supplier, a mysterious and powerful woman known as La Colombiana. They've carved up the neighborhood into territories, not exempt from occasional turf squabbles. But Victor and his peers understand that conflict is bad for business — and the business is too good to mess with.

When a small-time dealer for a crew boss Tito (Fat Joe) crosses the line, however, and Victor and his boys slap him down, the dealer comes back, shooting Victor outside his apartment.

His own brush with death and a pair of unrelated events makes Victor want to stop dealing drugs. For one thing, his longtime girlfriend Carmen (Delilah Cotto) tells him she is pregnant with his child. She also introduces him to her friend Trish (Denise Richards) and her high-rolling investment banker boyfriend, Jack (Sarsgaard).

They meet at a party at Jack's posh Manhattan apartment. Victor and Jack start talking and, before long, Victor sees his opening: He can pull his various stashes of cash together, invest in one of Jack's deals and make enough to stay legit forever.

But, while Victor loves the idea of putting the Bronx behind him and moving into Manhattan, both Carmen and his crew see him as forgetting his roots and putting on airs, of feeling that he's suddenly better than they are.

The film's first half has a certain freshness as it examines the life that Victor has created for himself and his pragmatic approach to this enterprise. But writer-director Franc Reyes ultimately shifts onto a well-worn story path in the film's second half, as Victor tries to make the transition to legitimacy. The longer the story goes on, the more predictable it becomes, up to and including its conclusion. The echoes of Brian DePalma's "Carlito's Way" (in which Leguizamo also happened to appear) are strong, which is probably not coincidental because Reyes served as the choreographer on that film.

Still, Leguizamo is an intriguing actor who, until now, hasn't been offered parts as substantial or straightforward as this. He gets under the skin of Victor, making him sympathetic, despite his line of work.

Sarsgaard makes a smooth counterpart as a yuppie tempted with dreams of white-collar credibility. All he has to forsake is the rest of his life.

"Empire" is never short on pace or twists, and has a sharp sense of place and character. If it takes too many familiar steps, it is still never less than compelling as it walks the well-trod line.

Rated R for profanity, graphic violence, sexuality, nudity.

On the web: http://www.empiremovie.com