Sucker Free City is a 2004 film directed by Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

. The film examines white, black, and Chinese characters in San Francisco and the conflicts they encounter with each other. The film was intended to be the pilot for a Showtime television series. Showtime declined to pick up the series. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

 and was subsequently broadcast on television on the Showtime Network.

Synopsis

The film follows three young men as they are drawn into lives of crime. Nick (Crowley) uses his entry-level corporate job to commit credit card fraud and deals drugs on the side. K-Luv (Mackie) is a member of the "V-Dubs" ("Visitacion Valley Mafia"), an African-American street gang. Lincoln (Leung) is a rising figure in the Chinese mafia

Tong (organization)

The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". In North America a tong is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity...

.

Gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

 forces Nick's family to move out of their home in the Mission District into Hunter's Point

Hunters Point, San Francisco, California

Bayview-Hunters Point or The Bayview, is a neighborhood in the southeastern corner of San Francisco, California, United States. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park is on the southern edge....

 where they are harassed by the V-Dubs. K-Luv's side business of selling bootleg compact discs leads him to enlist Nick's help to bootleg CDs and to negotiate a truce with Lincoln. Lincoln conducts an affair with his boss' daughter Angela (Carpio), a Stanford

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 student engaged to a medical student classmate.

Cast

Actor	Role
Ben Crowley	Nick Wade
Anthony Mackie Anthony Mackie Anthony Mackie is an American actor. He has been featured in feature films, television series and Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Drowning Crow, McReele, A Soldier's Play, and Talk, by Carl Hancock Rux, for which he won an Obie Award in 2002.In 2002 he featured...	K-Luv (Keith)
Ken Leung Ken Leung Kenneth "Ken" Leung is an American actor best known for his role as Miles Straume in the ABC television series Lost and roles in such films as Shanghai Kiss, Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Saw.-Early life:...	Lincoln Ma
Darris Love Darris Love Darris Love is an American actor, most notable for his role as Raymond 'Ray' Alvarado in Nickelodeon's The Secret World of Alex Mack...	Sleepy
Laura Allen Laura Allen -Personal life:Allen was born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Julie and David Allen. She grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington as the middle child of three sisters: older Jennifer and younger Lindsay. She attended Wellesley College as a Sociology major and graduated in 1996...	Samantha Wade
T. V. Carpio T. V. Carpio -Life and career:Carpio was born in Oklahoma City. She is the daughter of Hong Kong Chinese-Filipina singer Teresa Carpio, with whom she has performed on stage as a backup singer. Her mother has also recorded one of her compositions. Her father is Peter Mui, who co-founded Tungtex Co Ltd, a Hong...	Angela Tsing
Kathy Baker Kathy Baker Katherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...	Cleo Wade
James Hong James Hong James Hong is an American actor and former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists . A prolific acting veteran, Hong's career spans over 50 years and includes more than 350 roles in film, television, and video games.-Early life:Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His...	Kwok
Lamont Bentley Lamont Bentley Lamont Bentley was an American actor and rapper. He was known for his role as Hakeem Campbell on Moesha and the series' spin-off The Parkers.-Career:...	Ahmir
Ewan Chung	Edwin Leong
Omari Hardwick Omari Hardwick Omari Lateef Hardwick is an American actor, known for his roles in the TV series Saved and Dark Blue, and in the movies Spike Lee's Miracle at St...	Dante Ponce
Marguerite Moreau Marguerite Moreau Marguerite Moreau is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles on the television series Blossom, her role as Katie in the comedy cult film Wet Hot American Summer, and her role in The Mighty Ducks series of films...	Jessica Epstein
Judy Pace Judy Pace Judy Lenteen Pace is an American stage and screen actress.-Career Biography:Pace became a familiar face in the 1970s on both the big and small screen, appearing in popular blaxploitation movies and popular television shows. She played a character on the soap opera One Life to Live...	Mama June
Emilio Rivera Emilio Rivera -Early life:Rivera was born in San Antonio, Texas of Mexican descent. He is the oldest child of four brothers and three sisters. As a young boy, he and his family moved to Elysian Valley, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.-Acting career:...	Detective Zepada
John Savage John Savage (actor) John Savage is an American film actor, producer, production manager, and composer.- Acting career :...	Anderson Wade
Eddie Shin Eddie Shin Eddie Shin is a Korean-American actor.He was born and raised in Chicago, in the neighborhood of Rogers Park....	Michael
Malieek Straughter	Leon
Jim Brown Jim Brown James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...	Don Strickland
George Cheung George Cheung George Kee Cheung is a Chinese actor, stunt man, and singer with an extensive career in American television and film dating back to the mid-1970s, often playing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian parts...	Mr. Tsing
Chi Moui Lo	Tuk
Milo Stokes	Lil' O
Andrew Anderson Andrew Anderson Andrew Anderson may refer to:*Andrew Anderson , American basketball player*Andrew Anderson , Scottish footballer*Andrew Anderson , native of Elgin, Moray...	Fernando
J.T. The Bigga Figga JT the Bigga Figga JT the Bigga Figga born Joseph Tom is a hip hop producer/rapper from San Francisco, California's Fillmore neighborhood. The popularity of his self-released Playaz n' the Game led to his signing with Priority Records in 1995....	Killa Ski

External links

• San Francisco Chronicle article on the making of the film (Part 1)
• San Francisco Chronicle article on the making of the film (Part 2)