It Don't Pay To Be An Honest Citizen

The first feature of independent short-film creator Jacob Burckhardt is a disappointing venture, but it does have some wonderful cameo performances by beat-era writers Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. Reportedly based on a true incident, the story opens as Reed Bye, a struggling moviemaker, loses his all-important can of film to a pair of late-night muggers. He begins an endless search through the underworlds of Brooklyn in hopes of finding his work. Along the way he encounters Ginsberg, a seedy lawyer, and finally aging Mafia don Burroughs. Burckhardt shows a certain ability, but his story is too simple to work in a feature-length format. He relies heavily...