Jails, Hospitals, and Hip Hop (2001)

Synopsis: Based on Danny Hoch's one-man play of the same name, JAILS, HOSPITALS, AND HIP-HOP is a highly impressive commentary on urban culture's staggering influence over mainstream America, as well as the... Based on Danny Hoch's one-man play of the same name, JAILS, HOSPITALS, AND HIP-HOP is a highly impressive commentary on urban culture's staggering influence over mainstream America, as well as the rest of the world. The film consists of a series of short scenes involving eight different characters (all played by Hoch, in an electrifying display of versatility), each of whom describes his own unique situation in the modern world. There's the white Montana youth who is convinced that he's a black teenager from the ghetto, the angry prison guard who must visit a psychiatrist after assaulting an inmate, the Bronx man who got busted selling Bart Simpson tee-shirts, the crippled victim of a police shooting, the son-of-a-crackhead who gives a heartwarming speech at his therapist's retirement party, the Cuban street vendor who is thrilled to meet a tourist from New York City, the incredibly popular rapper who appears on a late-night talk show, and even Hock himself (who tells a poignant story about his experiences with the cast of SEINFELD). Hoch and co-director Mark Benjamin cleverly transform the stage show into a truly cinematic visual experience, cutting between many locales (including an intimate performance in an actual jail) in order to bring the monologue to pulsating life on the screen. [More]

Starring: Danny Hoch, Bonz Malone

Starring: Danny Hoch, Bonz Malone

Director: Mark Benjamin

Director: Mark Benjamin
Screenwriter: Danny Hoch
Producer: Garth Belcon, Mark Benjamin

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