Plots(1)
A mentally retarded man named Seymour (John Leguizamo) lives in a world of violence. On the basketball court, he is held at razor point and forced to speak perversions. At a rally where his activist mother Mona (Julie Carmen) protests against police brutality, Seymour watches a man bleed to death from a gun shot wound. And his best friend (Michael Rapaport) shows Seymour how to stick up for himself by using a gun. Seymour's dad, Jack (Cliff Gorman) is the kind of man who brings a flask to the bar. He has a cruel habit of telling Seymour he is "a hustler" who pretends to be retarded so he doesn't have to move out of his mother's house. One morning, Mona is shot and killed in her apartment by Lil' Mafia (Justin Pierce), a neighborhood kid and the son of a prostitute-junkie named Mermaid (Annabella Sciorra). Mona's ditzy, pot-head girlfriend (Rosie Perez, the director's wife) joins up with Jack and a cop (Marisa Tomei) to search for Mona's killer. The poignancy of Mona's death comes in a flashback when Mona tells Seymour he can't go outside because "inside it's safe, outside people get shot." (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![John Leguizamo](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/166/316/166316119_92dd41.jpg)
John Leguizamo
Colombia
Best movies:
Carlito's Way (1993)
Ice Age (2002)
When They See Us (2019) (series)
![Rosie Perez](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/049/165049849_a68077.jpg)
Rosie Perez
USA
Best movies:
Night on Earth (1991)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
All the Invisible Children (2005)
![Julie Carmen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272555_c5a581.jpg)
Julie Carmen
USA
Best movies:
Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker (1989) (TV movie)
Gloria (1980)
The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
Cliff Gorman
USA
Best movies:
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
All That Jazz (1979)
The Bunker (1981) (TV movie)
![Michael Rapaport](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/879/161879134_fa2f73.jpg)
Michael Rapaport
USA
Best movies:
Sully (2016)
True Romance (1993)
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
![Marisa Tomei](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/435/162435862_679ced.jpg)
Marisa Tomei
USA
Best movies:
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Chaplin (1992)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Justin Pierce
UK
Best movies:
King of the Jungle (1999)
Kids (1995)
Next Friday (2000)
![Annabella Sciorra](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271174_b522c7.jpg)
Annabella Sciorra
USA
Best movies:
The Cure (1995)
The Fortunate Pilgrim (1988) (series)
Twelve and Holding (2005)
![Judy Reyes](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/494/161494939_e8b748.jpg)
Judy Reyes
USA
Best movies:
King of the Jungle (1999)
Gun Hill Road (2011)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
![Rosario Dawson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/128/165128112_8f87a7.jpg)
Rosario Dawson
USA
Best movies:
Dopesick (2021) (series)
Seven Pounds (2008)
Sin City (2005)
![Scott Cohen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/337/160337070_b6636f.jpg)
Scott Cohen
USA
Best movies:
Gia (1998) (TV movie)
The 10th Kingdom (2000) (series)
Private Parts (1997)
Ranjit Chowdhry
India
Best movies:
Bandit Queen (1994)
Fire (1996)
King of the Jungle (1999)
![Carmen Serano](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/066/037/66037451_f27548.jpg)
Carmen Serano
USA
Best movies:
King of the Jungle (1999)
Save Me (2007)
The Flock (2007)
Jason Andrews
Best movies:
Magnolia (1999)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)