Justice (2004)

Synopsis: The Two Boots Pioneer Theater is proud to present Evan Oppenheimer's new film JUSTICE from April 28 to May 11, 2004. Featured in the Dramatic Competition at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival (and... The Two Boots Pioneer Theater is proud to present Evan Oppenheimer's new film JUSTICE from April 28 to May 11, 2004. Featured in the Dramatic Competition at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival (and subsequently over 20 other festivals around the world), JUSTICE is a comedic drama about a maverick comic-book writer who uses his powers of creativity to create a new kind of superhero ­ an enigmatic entity named Justice who embodies the heroism of everyday existence in the face of apathy, anarchy, and cynicism. Like "American Splendor" and "Crumb," JUSTICE acknowledges that comics are the lifeblood of the collective pop unconscious, an outlaw medium whose freedom from political correctness allow a quicker, truer picture of the American zeitgeist. Comics writer Drew (ERšs Erik Palladino), after losing his best friend during the 9/11 tragedy, tires of penning hackneyed superhero word balloons for musclemen in tights. Driven to make sense of his loss, Drew envisions a new character more in step with reality ­ a hero with no superpowers, mutations, or radioactive qualities, just a regular guy, an average avenger. Needing real-life inspiration, Drew strategically befriends Tre (Michael Jai White), a down-to-earth substitute teacher he meets playing basketball, and uses the unsuspecting Trešs persona as the basis for his new hero. When Justice Comics #1 is a hit, and a Village Voice reporter starts asking questions, Drew realizes hešs got to tell Tre he's a hero, with a secret identity so secret even he didn't know he had it. JUSTICE also stars Rent's Daphne Rubin-Vega as Drew's friend Roberta, an activist lawyer fighting Mayor Giuliani's City Hall, and Ajay Naidu as Mohammed, a Muslim from India who runs a breakfast cart. Their three stories, which take place in different timeframes, finally come together on a sunny September morning. JUSTICE was written and directed by Evan Oppenheimer, whose first film, The Auteur Theory, a well-spiked satire about murder on the film festival circuit, was described as "an extremely clever black comedy" (Variety) when it was released in 2001. Oppenheimer's next film, Alchemy, will be shot this summer in New York. [More]

Starring: Erik Palladino, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Michael Jai White, Ajay Naidu

Starring: Erik Palladino, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Michael Jai White, Ajay Naidu, Marisa Ryan, Catherine Kellner, Tom Guiry, Joelle Carter, David Patrick Kelly, Michael Ealy, Leo Fitzpatrick