Last Exit to Brooklyn

Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) is Uli Edel's drama drawn from Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious novel, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Brooklyn, 1952: a dragging factory strike, dockside poverty, and a handful of lives sliding quietly downhill.

The film braids several stories out of Selby's book. Harry (Stephen Lang), a union man riding the strike, finally admits who he wants. Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a young prostitute, gambles everything by falling for one of her clients. A family buckles over an unmarried daughter's pregnancy. There's no romance to the gutter here — only a street where not everyone makes it to the far end.

Selby's novel was once put on trial for obscenity, and the movie hits with the same bluntness. Jennifer Jason Leigh throws herself into one of the rawest performances of her career, and Mark Knopfler's guitar score drifts over the neighborhood like a requiem. Watch for a young Sam Rockwell and Stephen Baldwin in small roles. This is hard, honest filmmaking — not an easy night in, but essential for anyone who wants their drama without anesthetic. Stream Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) online on iFILM.