84 From ’84: Alphabet City

Alphabet City Header
Alphabet City Poster

A New York City drug dealer decides to get out of the business, but has to flee from mobsters.

Cast:

  • Vincent Spano as Johnny
  • Michael Winslow as Lippy
  • Kate Vernon as Angie
  • Jami Gertz as Sophia
  • Zohra Lampert as Mama
  • Raymond Serra as Gino
  • Kenny Marino as Tony

1984 memories

I’m pretty sure this movie never played in my towns theater. I’ve never heard of it or seen it. The poster is pure 80s.

Let’s see what this movie is about and if it’s worth watching after all this time.

40th Anniversary Re-watch

Alphabet City feels like it wants to be Miami Vice. It’s not. It isn’t a good movie but it’s not bad. I found myself oddly mesmerized by it.

The entire movie takes place over the course of one night in the life of gangster Johnny, who, by the way drives a badass Trans Am.

Johnny runs the drug operations in his neighborhood for the for the mob. After he meets up with his partner and drug dealer Lippy, they discuss their orders to burn down an apartment building.

It’s mostly Johnny running around all night taking care of business and trying not to burn down the apartments.

I enjoyed Vincent Spano in this movie. I’d watch more of him. When I looked at his career he’s been in over 75 movies and I’ve only seen one other one, Rumble Fish. That’s a shame. I need to watch a few more of his movies.

Alphabet City Gertz

Alphabet city also stars Jami Gertz. She’s a great actress and starred in a lot of movies in the 80s. This is one of her earlier roles, for being somewhat new to acting she does a great job.

Alphabet city is a mostly forgettable movie, I enjoyed it but I probably never watch it again. It is relatively short at 85 minutes so if you decide to watch it, it won’t be a huge time commitment.

Alphabet City did good at the box office making over $7 million on a $1.2 million budget.

Did you watch Alphabet City? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on X(Twitter). The main Geekster channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai

5/10 stars

Check out the entire 84 From ’84 movie series

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About Pitfall Gary 177 Articles
Just your average Gen X'er. Born in the 70s and raised in the Decade of Decadence! I rode my bike without a helmet and was home when the street lights came on. I love to reminisce about the good ol' days; Movies, TV, music, if it happened in my childhood I'll share it with you.

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