AllMovie

Abel Ferrara's 'R Xmas somehow adds up to more than the sum of its script and performances. The intricately mundane workings of the drug trade make for fascinating cinema, and Ferrara's conflation of rabid, upper-class consumerism with narcotics dealing is pointed and well wrought. The Christmas setting of the film adds an effectively blunt irony to the proceedings. The film was expertly shot by longtime Ferrara collaborator Ken Kelsch, though the incessant use of dissolves may irritate some viewers. The silly (seemingly improvised) dialogue and sloppy plotting that surround the film's solid core make it seem as though the filmmakers are making it up as they go along. Drea de Matteo, as the wife/partner of an embattled Dominican drug dealer, and Ice-T, as her husband's kidnapper, have a fiery energy in their scenes together, but the content of their interaction is ludicrous. For example, the kidnapper simply demands "a lot of money" for the husband's safe return, and then gets angry when the wife returns with an insufficient amount. Lillo Brancato Jr., meanwhile, as the aforementioned husband, is believably dopey as an ineffectual drug kingpin, but the Italian-American actor's effort to portray a Dominican often resembles a bad Al Pacino impression. But there is a worthy story with a message at the center of all this, and Ferrara directs with enough assurance that these serious flaws will probably seem like minor quibbles to fans of his work.