SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground (1997)

Drama, Made for TV, Mekhi Phifer

Director: Bob Balaban (segment “5: 24, The”), Patricia Benoit (segment “Fern’s Heart of Darkness”), Julie Dash (segment “Sax Cantor Riff”), Jonathan Demme (segment “Subway Car from Hell”), Ted Demme (segment “Manhattan Miracle”), Abel Ferrara (segment “Love on the A Train”), Alison Maclean (segment “Honey-Getter”), Craig McKay (segment “Red Shoes, The”), Lucas Platt (segment “Underground”), Seth Zvi Rosenfeld (segment “Listeners, The”)

Writer(s): Adam Brooks (segment “Subway Car from Hell”), John Guare (segment “The Red Shoes”), Lynn Grossman (segment “The 5: 24”), Angela Todd (segment “Fern’s Heart of Darkness”), Seth Zvi Rosenfeld (segment “The Listeners”), Albert Innaurato (segment “Underground”), Danny Hoch (segment “Honey-Getter”), Julie Dash  (segment “Sax Cantor Riff”), Marla Hanson (segment “Love on the A Train”), Joe Viola (segment “Manhattan Miracle”), Rosie Perez (creator)

Starring: Bill Irwin, KRS-One, Tina North, Paul Lazar, Andre B. Blake, Anthony S. Calypso, Robert W. Castle, Marlon Cherry, Carl J. Ferrazza, Daniel Freedman, Marc Mueller, Paul Mueller, Simon Seven, Joe Toutebon, Daniel Wolff, Mari Danzi, Lara McFarlane, Angie Utt, Audrey Meyers, Denis Leary, Christine Lahti, N’Bushe Wright, Kevin Corrigan, Marie Barrientos, O.L. Duke, Ellen Gould, John C. Vennema, Sixto Ramos, Erika Greene, Steve Zahn, Jerry Stiller, Bonnie Hunt, Richard Spore, Mekhi Phifer, José Ramón Rosario, Nancy Ticotin, John Ford Noonan, Lili Taylor, Michael Rapaport, Israel Horovitz, Mercedes Ruehl, Zachary Taylor, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Jordan, Bruce Smolanoff, Rob Clasen, Jay Bailey, Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, Ajay Naidu, Danny Hoch, Steven Randazzo, Gi Shen, Kenny Garrett, Sam Rockwell, Sol Frieder, Tammi Cubilette, Kavi Ladnier, Bruklin Harris, Taral Hicks, Daniel Rous, Will Hare, Rosie Perez, Michael McGlone, Gretchen Mol, Gregory Hines, Anne Heche, George T. Odom, John D. Bair, John Bryant, Christopher Del Gaudio, Mark Robert Gordon, Stacie Johnsen, Adrian Lee, Bonnie Monaghan, Steve Nuke, Frank Turek, Christopher White

Synopsis: The actual experiences of New York City subway riders are dramatized in a collection of 10 intriguing and very different vignettes. The tales showcase an ensemble of familiar faces, and range from stories of compassion and love to reflections on violence and loss. Among them: a disabled beggar quarrels with a woman and ruins her shoes with his wheelchair, provoking onlookers to wrath and pity; a skittish tourist proves to be her own worst enemy; a newlywed trysts with a mysterious sexpot; a commuter helplessly witnesses a suicide attempt; and, in the most affecting segment, a young woman grieves over her mother’s imminent death.

Release Date: August 17, 1997 (USA) | Length: 80 min | Genre: Drama | Certificate: TV-MA