--- title: "King of New York" year: 1990 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york" fi1m_id: "king-of-new-york" imdb_id: "tt0099939" tmdb_id: 9558 wikidata_id: "Q775586" fi1m_score: 70 critics_score: 58 critics_reviews: 9 published: "2026-09-26T01:59:29.661256+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T01:59:35.769920+00:00" region: "FI" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # King of New York (1990) Directed by Abel Ferrara · 1h 43m · Thriller, Crime ## Identity King of New York - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** king-of-new-york - **IMDb ID:** tt0099939 - **TMDB ID:** 9558 - **Wikidata ID:** Q775586 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099939/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9558, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q775586 **Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 58 from 9 reviews *In a sentence:* Christopher Walken checks out of prison, into a hotel suite, and starts fundraising for a hospital between massacres > Abel Ferrara shoots New York at night in blues so deep the city looks underwater, and Christopher Walken has seldom been better at the centre of it. The film wants us to take Frank White’s good intentions seriously and never decides whether it does. ## Synopsis New York, at night. Frank White (Christopher Walken) leaves prison, is met by a limousine and watches the city through its window back into Manhattan. His crew, run by Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne), has kept busy, and the film cuts between his release and their killing of a Colombian dealer. Frank moves into a hotel suite with his lawyer and lover Jennifer (Janet Julian) and announces his plan: he will take the city’s drug trade from the Italians, the Colombians and Larry Wong (Joey Chin) in Chinatown, and spend the proceeds on a hospital. Three detectives, Dennis Gilley (David Caruso), Thomas Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) and their senior officer Roy Bishop (Victor Argo), attend the bodies and know who is responsible. ## Review Abel Ferrara’s gangster film is about a drug lord who comes out of prison wanting to be a philanthropist, and it never settles what it thinks of him. Frank White’s crew has kept the business warm while he was away, and his first act as a free man is to announce that he will take the whole city’s trade and spend the money on a hospital. Nicholas St. John’s script treats this as sincere. Whether the film does, it keeps putting off, and that is most of what is wrong with it. What is right is Christopher Walken, Bojan Bazelli’s camera and four or five set pieces, and that is enough for an evening. Walken plays Frank as a man who decided long ago how he would move and speak. He is soft-voiced, courteous and unnervingly still, and when he does move, in a club, to a rap track, his crew grinning around him, the film holds its breath with him. The opening minutes, Frank in the back of a limousine looking at the city he has been kept from, no dialogue, Walken’s face doing all of it, moved us more than a gangster’s homecoming had any right to. He looks at the streets as if he had missed them more than any person; that, not the hospital, is what he wants. Laurence Fishburne’s Jimmy Jump is the other reason to watch. He is loud where Frank is quiet, giggling, wearing his gold and his long coat as a dare, and he kills people with a pleasure the film does not pretend to disapprove of. A raid on a crack house, Jimmy’s crew coming through the door with guns and noise, is staged with real skill, and we watched it with a grin we were not proud of. Joey Chin’s Larry Wong, the Chinatown supplier who hears Frank out and declines, gives the film its few minutes of calm. Bazelli shoots almost everything at night, in blues and blacks, with the city’s lights smeared across wet car windows. Alex Tavoularis gives Frank a hotel suite that is all cream and lamplight, so he looks like a guest who has stayed past his welcome. Carol Ramsey puts Frank in black and his crew in colour and metal, so you can tell who is trying to pass for respectable. Joe Delia’s low, synthesised score mostly gets out of the way of the rap tracks, which arrive loud and stay. Anthony Redman cuts the shootouts hard and fast, a car chase in the rain especially, and the conversations so short that ideas are raised and dropped inside a scene. The police are where the film loses its footing. David Caruso’s Dennis Gilley and Wesley Snipes’s Thomas Flanigan are young detectives who watch Frank walk free from every hearing and decide the law is not enough. Victor Argo’s Roy Bishop, their tired superior, is the only man on screen who has read the rulebook, and Argo is quietly excellent; his one long scene with Frank is the best written in the film. But Caruso is asked to boil over in every scene, and does, and around the hour mark the detectives take a turn we will not describe, except that afterwards the film can no longer tell us whose side it is on. That is the trouble with the hospital. Frank says it to everyone who will listen, and the film neither believes him nor calls him a liar. Nicholas St. John has written a man who thinks he is Robin Hood, and Ferrara would rather watch him shoot than ask him about it. By the last half hour we were still enjoying the pictures and had stopped believing a word anyone said. Ferrara’s [*Bad Lieutenant*](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant) (1992) never takes its eyes off one man’s conscience, which is the discipline this film lacks. *King of New York* runs 103 minutes and Walken is not in enough of them. See it for him, for Fishburne, for Bazelli’s night city and for the dance. Do not expect it to know what it thinks about the man it cannot stop looking at. *Fi1m score 70, published 26 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics lean positive, six of nine, and the praise lands almost entirely on Christopher Walken. Reviewers describe his Frank White as graceful, balletic and unnerving, and several treat the performance as the thing holding an otherwise scattered film together. The New York setting draws steady approval, as do the large-scale setpieces and the flamboyance of the supporting cast; Victor Argo is picked out as the film’s quiet moral centre, and the hip-hop soundtrack earns a mention. The spread is wide. The three negative reviews do not quarrel with the style; they quarrel with the morality, finding the film’s professed unease about violence undone by its relish for it. The Los Angeles Times and Empire both make that case, and Time Out goes further, simply finding it nasty and foul-mouthed. Even admirers concede shallow plotting, uneven characters and a lack of cohesion. The disagreement is over whether the excess is defensible. ## Straight answers **Is King of New York worth watching?** *King of New York* is worth watching for Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne and Bojan Bazelli's night-time New York, and we scored it 70. It is a good crime thriller rather than a great one, because Abel Ferrara never decides whether Frank White's hospital plan is sincere or a lie. See it for the performances and the set pieces, not for its argument. **How long is King of New York, and what is it rated?** *King of New York* runs 1h 43m. It is a thriller and crime film. **Where can I watch King of New York in Finland?** *King of New York* is not on any streaming or rental service in Finland at the moment. It is available in 11 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is King of New York, and is it suitable for children?** *King of New York* is a violent adult crime film, rated R in the United States and not suitable for children. It contains shootouts, a crack house raid and killings that the film watches with obvious pleasure rather than disapproval, along with drug dealing throughout. Teenagers who can take a hard gangster film will manage; the squeamish should look elsewhere. **How does King of New York compare to The Long Good Friday?** *King of New York* and [*The Long Good Friday*](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday) are both about a gangster who believes he is building something while his city pulls it apart. Ferrara's film is the more striking to look at and the emptier in what it says, with Walken and Fishburne carrying scenes the script drops halfway through. John Mackenzie's London film is the better made of the two, funnier and surer of what it thinks, if its plot takes more effort to follow. **What should I watch after King of New York?** After *King of New York*, try [*The Long Good Friday*](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday) (1980, Fi1m 88): Bob Hoskins’s London gangster also thinks he is building something; the city disagrees. Then [*Bad Lieutenant*](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant) (1992, Fi1m 80): Ferrara again, with Harvey Keitel, and this time he never takes his eyes off the sinner. ### Reviews we read (9) - **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (80/100, inferred): Tobias regards the film as a compelling, morally complex gangster story, though it cannot bear comparison with The Godfather. He singles out Victor Argo’s quietly standout performance as the film’s moral ballast. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/king-of-new-york-1798215494) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (75/100, inferred): The review finds the crime fable unusual and its direction impressive. It singles out the large-scale setpieces and flamboyant performances for praise. [Read](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/king-of-new-york-1200428363/) - **The Guardian**, Rob Mackie (70/100, inferred): Mackie finds the film elevated above typical gangster movies by its charismatic lead, though it lacks cohesion. He especially praises Christopher Walken’s graceful, compelling performance as Frank White. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/sep/19/dvdreviews.thriller) - **The Independent**, Ben Walsh (70/100, inferred): The review treats the film as an over-the-top, bullet-drenched thriller that is saved by Christopher Walken’s performance. It singles out his exuberant portrayal of Frank White, especially his fresh-out-of-jail dance. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dvd-bluray-king-of-new-york-18-7939036.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Peter Rainer (40/100, inferred): Rainer finds the film stylish but morally hypocritical, with its supposed critique of violence undermined by its appetite for mayhem. He praises Christopher Walken’s unnerving, balletic presence and David Caruso’s psychological edge, which gives the film needed depth. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-26-ca-3049-story.html) - **Empire**, Angie Errigo (35/100, inferred): Errigo finds the film stylish but ultimately ugly, sordid, and morally troubling. She praises Christopher Walken’s riveting performance while criticizing the film’s grotesque excesses and lack of moral perspective. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/king-new-york-review/) - **Time Out**, SGr (20/100, inferred): The review takes a strongly negative view of the film, describing it as exceptionally violent and nasty. It singles out the film’s foul-mouthed excess as a complaint. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/king-of-new-york) - **Eye for Film**, David Graham (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a riveting, morally bleak crime thriller, despite its shallow plotting and uneven character development. Walken’s magnetic performance is singled out for praise, alongside the film’s gritty, authentic sense of New York. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/king-of-new-york-film-review-by-david-graham) - **HeyUGuys**, Adam Lowes (3.5/5): The critic finds the film mostly enduring and worth revisiting, though its action-heavy moments clash with its quieter side. They praise its morally complex central character, evocative New York setting, and blistering hip-hop soundtrack. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/king-new-york-blu-ray-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Abel Ferrara - **Director:** Abel Ferrara - **Writer:** Nicholas St. John - **Cinematography:** Bojan Bazelli - **Editor:** Anthony Redman - **Music:** Joe Delia - **Production design:** Alex Tavoularis - **Costume design:** Carol Ramsey - **Producer:** Mary Kane, Augusto Caminito - **Cast:** Christopher Walken as Frank White; David Caruso as Dennis Gilley; Laurence Fishburne as Jimmy Jump; Victor Argo as Roy Bishop; Wesley Snipes as Thomas Flanigan; Janet Julian as Jennifer; Joey Chin as Larry Wong; Giancarlo Esposito as Lance - **Runtime:** 1h 43m - **First release (France):** 19 May 1990 - **Genres:** Thriller, Crime - **Budget:** $5 million - **Box office:** $3 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt94pENFmjc ## Where to watch in Finland Not streaming, renting or buying in Finland at the last check. Also available in: AT, BE, CA, CH, DE, ES, FR, GB, IE, IT, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Long Good Friday* (1980), Fi1m 88: Bob Hoskins’s London gangster also thinks he is building something; the city disagrees. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday.md) - *Bad Lieutenant* (1992), Fi1m 80: Ferrara again, with Harvey Keitel, and this time he never takes his eyes off the sinner. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant.md) - *New Jack City* (1991): Wesley Snipes on the other side of the badge, running a crack empire in Harlem. - *Le Samouraï* (1967): Alain Delon’s hitman is Frank White with the volume turned down and the hat kept on. - *Sonatine* (1993): Takeshi Kitano’s yakuza wait on a beach for a war; funnier and sadder than it sounds. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/king-of-new-york