The Children of Times Square: Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson's The Children of Times Square is a made-for-TV movie about runaways living in New York City. The film centers on two young boys in particular: Eric, a young boy who runs away from his neglectful step-father, and Luis, an inner city boy who takes up drug-dealing to support his mother and two young sisters. They both fall into a gang called the Leopards which controls the drug trade of a large chunk of Times Square. They are led by an older man named Otis, a Fagin-like hustler. Of course, this being a made-for-TV movie, it is a cautionary tale. Therefore, much of the movie involves Eric's mother traveling to New York to try and find him. It's inevitable that Eric will be found, but that doesn't distract from the fact that The Children of Times Square is one of the grittier made-for-TV movies that I have ever seen. It explicitly deals with child prostitution, pedophilia, and the drug business. In fact, one minor character that weaves in and out of the central narrative is a 15-year old prostitute on the run from her sexually abusive father. And don't get me started on the scene where Eric is sexually assaulted by an older gentleman. The Children of Times Square feels like a grindhouse movie with all the especially naughty bits edited out. But it still packs a sizable emotional wallop.

7/10