Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 07/09/2002
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DS
Run Time: 101 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Zigzag is the directorial debut of screenwriter
David S. Goyer (
Blade,
Blade 2). Based on the well-received debut novel by
Landon J. Napoleon, the film tells the story of an autistic teenager,
Louis "Zigzag" Fletcher (
Sam Jones III).
Zigzag is a sensitive and thoughtful boy who retreats into his own mind to escape the harshness of his inner-city life, particularly the abuse of his father (
Wesley Snipes). His only friend is
Singer (
John Leguizamo), his compassionate Big Brother, who gives
Louis his nickname, and tells the boy he's imbued with special powers. He's trying to get
Zigzag removed from his father's home, and also to teach him to survive.
Singer has testicular cancer, and is concerned that he won't always be around when the boy needs him.
Zigzag works as a dishwasher in a restaurant owned by
the Toad (
Oliver Platt), an amusingly caustic Southerner. After
Zigzag's father demands 200 dollars for rent, the boy sees
Toad opening his office safe, and commits the combination to memory. Later, he takes 9,000 dollars from the safe. When he attempts to give his father the rent, his father takes all the money. When
Singer finds out what
Zigzag has done, he goes to desperate lengths to get the money back, so he can return it to
Toad before
Zigzag gets into trouble. As
Singer's plan goes awry, this brings the pair into contact with a sleazy loan shark (
Luke Goss, who was also in
Blade 2) and a kindhearted prostitute (
Natasha Lyonne). The film's soundtrack was composed by
Grant Lee Phillips.
Zigzag was shown at the
2002 SXSW Festival.
~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
