• Straight to Video
• Director: Brandon David
• Written by: Brandon David
• Running Time: 83 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Justin Michael Morales, Angelica Lawrence, Josh Mond, Louis Sapp III, James Cillizza, Kevin Toolen, William Toolen, Jason Hogan, Harold Murphy, Gary Linsky, Miguel Rivera, Chris Dowling, Jeffrey Reynolds, Harley Carrara, Robert Jabs, Seth Weiland, Shaun Laprice, Rick Goodine, Liliane Lawrence, Siana Mahoney, Noell Schiavoni, Dale Johnson, Greg Bing, Charles Woody, Douglas Baldwin

According to Greek mythology, wine-god Dionysus granted King Midas the single wish that whatever he touched would turn to gold. His gift offered promise of great wealth and a prosperous future for himself and his friends, until the day he touched his daughter, thus rendering her a golden lifeless statuette. Suddenly his gift seemed more like a curse, and he grew to hate his wealth, and sought solace in the countryside away from everything he once held dear. Okay, so translate this myth into an urban, hip-hop setting; mix in a plethora of toxic social issues, namely drinking, drugs, racism, thug cops and street-violence and what do you get, well, “King Midas” of course – a brutal, modernized re-working of the popular allegory, one that suggests the line between a gift and a curse is a thin one indeed.

Small time drug dealer, Tommy Gold (Justin Michael Morales), facing ten years after getting busted selling cocaine, quickly resolves to change things upon his release. While in lock-up, Tommy takes pity on a small time hood and acts as his personal guardian. As it turns out, this small time hood is the nephew of some very connected people, including a mafia loan shark named ‘Uncle’ Murphy (Harold Murphy). After getting out of the joint, Tommy has his goodwill returned in kind, as Murphy offers to pay him handsomely for helping with his nephew. Interesting, Tommy wants more. While in lock up, Tommy cultivated some majestic plans for getting rich, but in order to make those plans a reality Tommy needs money – and quick. Murphy relents at first but eventually agrees to lend him the start-up capital, even offering him a discount on the interest. Grateful and fully aware of the risks, Tommy is reminded by Murphy, “Be careful what you wish for.” However, he seems unable to grasp the true meaning of those cryptic words, and elects to charge full steam ahead without considering the consequences. Tommy’s grand plan involves three intricate steps. One; dominate and control the local area dealers, not with brutality but by calling in favours. As a former street slinger himself, he knows the ins and outs better than most and is willing to utilize this to his advantage to set up something liken to a real operation. His second course of action involves setting up a recording studio to produce and distribute rap and hip-hop music. His friends, all wannabe rappers, willingly provide the legitimate front Tommy needs, while he happily provides them with a place to stew artistically. The last piece of the puzzle involves moving into the clubs in Bristol, Connecticut and muscling out the more established sellers by offering pure product attached to a brand name. Even though his plan seems to be working out and he’s tucking away cash faster than he can count it, it’s still not enough for Tommy who continues to need more. Of course, that proves to be his downfall, ultimately. Cementing his place amongst the drug-scene hierarchy, Tommy gains notoriety by shooting a police informant and burying him alive in a scene that harkens back to Martin Scorsese’s “Casino”. This scene not only works to illuminate his ruthlessness, but it also establishes just how committed he is to making his dream become a reality. Fear is his weapon, and he wears it proudly.

The analogies drawn between the Greek myth and the post-modern reality of the film are clear and ever-present. The most defining moment involves the night Tommy arrives at the studio wearing a golden coloured rain-slick. When his friends scoff at his choice of attire, Tommy suggests that given his current trend for making something out of nothing, that rain slick will soon become a hot fashion commodity. That’s when band-leader, Chief (Louis Sapp III), pipes up, drawing an analogy between Midas and Tommy, even writing a song about it, a song that, of course, becomes a hit. It is this song that works also as the running narration, provided by Sapp, who lays out, in cool hip hop verses, the story of Tommy, a twisted fairy-tale of indulgence and excess gone awry. It is really quite brilliant, and was utilized later in the urban-actioner “Full Clip”. As a whole “King Midas” is really quite good. Despite that the film documents a violent sub-culture that I neither agree with nor fully understand, I found myself completely drawn to the characters and their dilemmas. With the exception of Louis Sapp’s Chief, who seems to signify the film’s moral ambiguity, none of the characters here are are even remotely likeable but they do have a magnetic quality. To be fair, Justin Michael Morales’ character is given some levity but it's only because of his sincere devotion to his little brother Jimmy (Josh Mond), a person he wants better for, even if it means personally bankrolling his educational future. Interesting to note, it is what happens between Morales, the allegoric central figure, Sapp, the conscience, and Mond, the soul, that embodies the irony and the tragedy of the film.

The minimal plot is similar to “Scarface” in that it is the standard rise and fall of a druglord, but where the DePalma film felt like an epic tale, the “King Midas” story is more intimate and easy to connect with, which, strangely, makes it all the more discomforting. Even more shocking is the truly mythic account of how the film came to be made. A quick scan of the Internet reveals some rather chilling facts regarding “King Midas” namely how production was alllowed to carry on due to the generous contributions of some real-life drug dealers and convicted felons. In fact, the Connecticut State Police even tried to confiscate the rights to the movie under drug-forfeiture laws. Listening to the Director’s Commentary reveals even more details as David, joined by producer/actor Kevin Toolen (2005's "Bristol Boys") and star Morales, voluntarily recount a litany of crimes committed while shooting the movie, including using real drugs and real guns, some of which contained actual bullets. There’s also the roll call of various cast members appearing in the movie who are currently serving jail time on various narcotic and weapons offences. Some of the most damning testimony involves David stating how they would get various dealers high on ‘X’ and cocaine and then hit them up for money in order to continue shooting the movie. Along with this sobering information comes some funny stuff as well, namely how, after a local screening of the film, star Morales, who was taking a post-screening bathroom break, was informed by a real-life drug dealer from Bristol, Connecticut area who was in attendance, “You (Morales) were great in the movie, but I got Bristol locked up.” Interestingly, this choice to use authentic drug dealers in their natural surroundings provides a heightened sense of realism and danger that, ultimately gives the film a sort of documentary feel.

Considering that most of the people in the film are essentially playing themselves, and everything feels authentic, it's hard to distinguish the real actors from those who just happened to be on set that day. Justin Michael Morales (2005's "Forever") in the lead role, just flows with a natural ability and seems able to deliver in any environment, even dangerous ones. He has these mischievous gremlin-like eyes that only help to glimpse a darkness that lurks within. Apparently Moraels was a last minute substitute, but he comes through like a professional. Granted, he is stiff in a few scenes and he could probably use some more training, but even without, he’s not bad. His scenes with Josh Mond (2008's "Afterschool") in particular, are strangely poignant and jovial, as he strives to be a better person if just for him. His scenes with his friends, however, take on a much different tone, one that straddles the line between comforting and mean-spirited aloofness. We're never quite sure whether or not he's simply using them or if he actually cares. The scene in the funeral home is as awkward as it is powerful, speaking to a person who just doesn't quite understand his friends as much as he thinks he does. The draw up to the retribution kill is also quite bizarre, simply because Tommy appears to have reservations, weighing the devotion he has for his friend, a person who kept him in line and that he may have, reluctantly, grown to love, against the actuality of murder and the storm that it would most likely bring. For once, it seems, he's considered the consequences of his actions and he doesn't like the outcome. His gift has become his curse, and like the Greek story, he chooses to get away. In both sequences, we glimpse a very fine actor in some very good scenes. Angelica Lawrence as the materialistic drug fiend girlfriend who skips out just when Tommy needs her most, hints at an instinctual street-level ethos most people can probably relate to regardless of their socio-economic background. Louis Sapp III is also quite good in a handful of scenes but, according to the DVD commentary, Sapp was so frightened of being on camera that David had to keep him inebriated. This is rather interesting considering that he offers up some of the film's most memorable moments.

All in all, this is an eye-opening film that I dare you to watch twice, once with the regular audio and once with the Director’s commentary. You'll be shocked by just how candid the filmmakers are about the production, and their willingness to reveal certain details that we might ought not to know, is jolting. While browsing the imdb.com, I noticed that David hasn't made a film in a couple of years. I only hope that he's able to someday get back into the ring and belt out a couple more. Not quite Larry Clark, but, yeah, this guy has the stuff.