Directed by:
Robert WiseCinematography:
Theo van de SandeCast:
Jason Gedrick, Troy Byer, Eddie Velez, Tisha Campbell, Jamie Tirelli, Luis Guzmán, Lauren Tom, Robert LaSardo, Rafael Báez, Bruce Smolanoff, Stuart Rudin (more)Plots(1)
Set in the Manhattan street milieu that served him well in West Side Story, Robert Wise's Rooftops tells the story of T, a quiet, soft-spoken teen-ager who has left his broken home and is living in a makeshift shelter in an old water tower on top of an abandoned tenement building. There are other kids like him, including Squeak, a talented graffiti artist who joins T after an altercation involving his mother's boy friend. T and Squeak manage to scrape together what little money they need through minor sins (stripping cars, etc.), and at night all these street inhabitants get together in a vacant lot to "combat" dance, in which they use a combination of karate and dancing to force an opponent off of a platform. Into this mix comes Lobo, a drug dealer who moves into T's building and turns it into a crack house. Lobo's beautiful cousin Elana serves as his lookout – not because she wants to, but because her father's heart attack has left her family in dire financial straits. T and Elana become interested in each other, but T and Lobo are at odds with each other – which fact leads to a showdown in which T must put his "combat" skills to good use. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Jason Gedrick
USA
Best movies:
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Pompiers en alerte (1991)
Dare to Love (1995) (TV movie)
Troy Byer
USA
Best movies:
Rooftops (1989)
Weekend at Bernie's II (1993)
John Q (2002)
Eddie Velez
USA
Tisha Campbell
USA
Best movies:
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Rooftops (1989)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Jamie Tirelli
USA
Best movies:
Carlito's Way (1993)
Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
Marathon Man (1976)
Luis Guzmán
Puerto Rico
Best movies:
Carlito's Way (1993)
Magnolia (1999)
Traffic (2000)
Lauren Tom
USA
Best movies:
Wall Street (1987)
Futurama: Bender's Game (2008) (video compilation)
Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) (video compilation)
Robert LaSardo
USA
Best movies:
Léon: The Professional (1994)
The Mule (2018)
Gang Related (1997)
Rafael Báez
Best movies:
Shanghai Noon (2000)
Sea of Love (1989)
Rooftops (1989)
Bruce Smolanoff
Best movies:
The Children of Times Square (1986) (TV movie)
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (1997) (TV movie)
Rooftops (1989)
Stuart Rudin
USA
Best movies:
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Léon: The Professional (1994)
Private Parts (1997)
Alexis Cruz
USA
Best movies:
Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods - Final Cut (2009) (TV movie)
Stargate (1994)
The Brave (1997)
Allen Payne
USA
Best movies:
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) (TV movie)
Rooftops (1989)
A Price Above Rubies (1998)
Paul Herman
USA
Best movies:
Casino (1995)
Heat (1995)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Rockets Redglare
USA
Best movies:
Down by Law (1986)
In the Soup (1992)
Mystery Train (1989)
Robert Weil
USA
Best movies:
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)
The French Connection (1971)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
John Canada Terrell
Best movies:
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Rooftops (1989)
Nola Darling (1986)
Steve Love
Best movies:
Rooftops (1989)
Party Line (1988)
The Butcher's Wife (1991)
Daniel O'Shea
Best movies:
State of Grace (1990)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)
Rooftops (1989)