The Tenants

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The Tenants ★½ 2006 (R)

Adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1972 novel, helmed by first-time director Green, is a small, grim drama about the failure to bridge racial and ethnic divides. Landlord Levenspiel (Cassel) is trying to force Harry (McDermott), his last legal tenant, to vacate his crumbling Brooklyn tenement so it can be torn down. But the obsessive writer refuses to go until he can finish his third novel; squatter Willie (Snoop Dogg) is an unpublished writer also working on his opus. The two meet, but racial tensions and mistrust eventually erupt. Snoop is convincing (in a stereotypical role) but the movie isn't. 97m/C DVD . US Dylan McDermott, Snoop Dogg, Rose Byrne, Seymour Cassel, Niki J. Crawford, Laz Alonso; D: Danny Green; W: David Diamond, Danny Green; C: David W. Dubois; M: Leigh Gorman.