A charming 7 year old street kid (Michael Warren) wins the heart of account executive Alfre Woodard which threatens that got her into trouble and mix up her practically perfect life, one that's minus a relationship yet stilled with fulfillment in every other way. She's too good to be true, a boss whom everybody at her work respects, having risen from secretary to the retired Martin Balsam to the lady in the corner office. By chance, she meets Warren who tries to sell her a nickel bag, and she takes him out for lunch to find out all about him. He's a charming little con-artist under the thumb of drug dealers, and she's immediately taken with him and wants to help. By some chance, she needs a new man, the equally Charming Mario Van Peebles), so the stage is set for a heartwarming savior drama where they all turn each others lives around.
Alfre Woodard creates an extremely wonderful character, a woman who commands respect rather than demands it, and she's fought the good fight to move up you don't give up in a man's world, something remarkable for a black woman at this time let alone a woman. As she tries to deal with the red tape of Social Services, she realizes that nobody really cares about a little homeless black kid on the street, that there's little recourse for her since she is not his legal guardian. It's obvious what direction this is going to take, and in the process, you get to see the darker side of New York City including a part of the Bronx that hasn't changed much in the seven years since "Fort Apache the Bronx" came out.
Constance McCashin is good support as Woodard's best friend, and Fernando Lopez in a small role as a chef in her restaurant who takes water to the Bronx is memorable as well. Veteran actor Balsam is very funny in his bit part. Some of the coincidences and twists are a little difficult to believe, the sparkling cast and a heart of gold helps make this more profound than it would be otherwise. Woodard absolutely lights up the screen, and little Warren in spite of his character's situation and street life will tear your heart out.
Alfre Woodard creates an extremely wonderful character, a woman who commands respect rather than demands it, and she's fought the good fight to move up you don't give up in a man's world, something remarkable for a black woman at this time let alone a woman. As she tries to deal with the red tape of Social Services, she realizes that nobody really cares about a little homeless black kid on the street, that there's little recourse for her since she is not his legal guardian. It's obvious what direction this is going to take, and in the process, you get to see the darker side of New York City including a part of the Bronx that hasn't changed much in the seven years since "Fort Apache the Bronx" came out.
Constance McCashin is good support as Woodard's best friend, and Fernando Lopez in a small role as a chef in her restaurant who takes water to the Bronx is memorable as well. Veteran actor Balsam is very funny in his bit part. Some of the coincidences and twists are a little difficult to believe, the sparkling cast and a heart of gold helps make this more profound than it would be otherwise. Woodard absolutely lights up the screen, and little Warren in spite of his character's situation and street life will tear your heart out.