5/5 MACARTHUR PARK: The Best Film of 2001 noone saw!
  by Magnolia 12883 (Oregon City, OR USA)
I saw this at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival for my birthday. It was there along with Grand Prize winner "The Believer" (the first film I saw), "Scotland, PA" and "Julie Johnson" (a still to be released small masterpiece with Lili Taylor and Courtney Love - yes, that courtney love - in a tale of self-discovery, redirection and newly born lesbianism).

But Billy Wirth's "MacArthur Park" has an amazing ensemble led by underrated and underused Thomas Jefferson Byrd (good cineasts will recognize him from several Spike Lee joints, such as "Clockers", "Get on the Bus", "He Got Game" and his best role yet, prior to this film, in the overlooked and oft-misunderstood "Bamboozled").

It also has ex SNL alum Ellen Cleghorn (of WB sitcom fame), Lori Petty, Balthazar Getty (from Lynch's "Lost Highway"), and others.

The story is a disturbing but documentary like account of 48 hours in the life of homeless drug addicts and dealers and the people who float in and out of their orbit in LA's MacArthur Park.

It's an exhilirating, powerful and astonishing directorial debut that began as a documentary and took on actors to dramatize director-writer-actor Wirth's notes, fleshing out reality into a more palatable format (if you like your harsh truths and gritty reality in glossy, well-made fiction form).

Either way you take it, "MacArthur Park" is a diamond in the rough, an overlooked gem which is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

4/5 Billy Wirth's Unflinching Look Inside MacArthur Park
  by (Santa Fe, NM United States)
I saw this film in April 2001 after waiting over two years for it to get made. On May 18th 2004 the DVD is available for the public and fans to enjoy.

Billy Wirth gives an unflinching look at the underside of life. As a take it or leave it Hip Hop - Rap fan, I was blown away by the soundtrack. I felt the music blended and pulled the movie together, it set the pace and took the viewer on a roller coaster ride.

The ensemble cast was extraordinary, I was truly amazed to see the performances that Billy got the cast to reveal. It is an intense film and subject matter but with a sense of family, for not giving up on family, or yourself. To see pass the weaknesses that we all share, that with love and faith in each other you can triumph.

The performances of Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Carlton Wilborn, Keno Deary, Ellen Cleghorn were special to me. I look forward to more work from these gifted actors.

I also feel the movie forces the viewer to look inside themselves, to experience another world that many of us don't know and refuse to see. The addict, the homeless, they could all be us. That they do have faces, names, families and souls.

5/5 The most riveting,gritty movie of 2001!
  by Cindy Mahoney (Brunswick, Georgia United States)
At least in my opinion. I saw this amazing film in November of 2001 at the St.Louis Film Festival with 2 friends that ran a fan group for Billy at the time. We saw the movie on Friday evening and the next afternoon and I have to say that it was just as facinating both days. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for a second. Billy did an outstanding job for this being his debut as director. I highly recommend this movie, I think it's worth every cent, though it can be hard to watch at times.

5/5 Great Expo
  by Seattle's Finest Mocha (Seattle, WA)
This is a good film that exposes the life of homeless drug addicts. Everyone that is homeless isn't the scum of the earth and it shows that some homeless addicts can be the cute girl next door, a talented and brilliant individual, and even someone who has already "made it". A MacArthur Park is in every neighborhood and every social-economic class. It all starts with one hit so people choose your highs wisely. What ever happened to the natural high of life or going to an amusement park? They should come out with a MacArthur Park 2 to see what happens to some of the characters that didn't get killed off of the film.

5/5 Great Transaction
  by Brenda Fleming (IL USA)
Movie arrived within two days, This is a great indie film, actually one of my favorites It shows the effect of crack cocaine on all segments of society and what the addicts life is really like from day to day.