'R Xmas

2001 film by Abel Ferrara January 2019 July 2026 'R Xmas R_xmas_poster.jpg DVD cover Abel Ferrara Cassandra De Jesus Pierre Kalfon Abel FerraraScott Pardo Drea de MatteoLillo BrancatoIce-TVictor ArgoAndrew Fiscella Schooly D Ken Kelsch Patricia Bowers Bill Pankow Suzanne Pillsbury Valence Films Inc.Barnholtz EntertainmentStudioCanal Pathfinder Pictures (U.S.)Mars Distribution (France) 2001 05 09 Cannes 2001 12 26 France 2002 11 8 U.S. 85 minutes United StatesFrance English R Xmas is a 2001 crime film directed and co-written by Abel Ferrara and starring Drea de Matteo, Lillo Brancato, and Ice-T. The film is about an affluent married couple with a secret double life as drug dealers. When the husband is kidnapped on Christmas Eve, his wife must find enough money to pay his ransom. This American and French co-production was filmed on-location in New York City. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1100043/year/2001.html Festival de Cannes: 'R Xmas October 23, 2009 festival-cannes.com It received a limited theatrical release in the United States, before being released on home video. Plot An unnamed married couple outwardly lives as affluent socialites - sending their daughter to a private school, living in a high-rise with doormen - but earn their money commuting to a drab Flushing apartment where, with their relatives, they package and sell heroin. Before Christmas, one of the husband's regular associates asks him to hold a large quantity of heroin for him over the holiday. On Christmas Eve, the husband takes an ostensibly routine meeting while the wife visits an illicit pawnshop hoping to obtain a popular sold-out "Party Girl" doll for their daughter. After buying the toy, she is accosted by a man in possession of her husband's driver's license. He informs her he has been kidnapped, and gives her 20 minutes to collect as much money as she can for ransom. After getting approximately $15,000 from her street dealers, she brings it to him, but he is dissatisfied with the low sum. Relaying his knowledge of personal information about them and their child, he demands she deliver more money and all the drugs they have on hand. As she attempts to gather these during a time when clients and family are out of contact for the Christmas holiday, the husband is beaten by a gang whose manner of speaking suggests they are rogue police. When the wife returns, the liaison gets strangely familiar with her, asking personal questions about their marriage, and warns her to make sure he stops dealing. Come Christmas morning, the father is safely home, and their daughter happily receives her Party Girl doll. TV coverage shortly after the incident reveals that a corrupt band of police have been arrested for activities including dealing drugs, and the wife recognizes one of the arrested officers as the man she dealt with. While they share concerns about what future troubles may arise from their business, they are not willing to give up their upscale lifestyle and ultimately continue. At a lavish party they attend, the husband is briefly diverted by some of his dealers, who reveal they have found and killed the associate who asked him to sit on the heroin, assuming that he had tipped off the cops who kidnapped him. He returns to the party and goes on stage to sing a ballad to his wife. Cast Drea de Matteo as the Wife Lillo Brancato, Jr. as the Husband Ice-T as the Kidnapper Lisa Valens as Lisa, the Daughter Victor Argo as Louie Denia Brache as Louie's Wife Gloria Irizarry as Aunt Naomi Morales as The Niece Nelson Vasquez as Niece's Husband Andrew Fiscella, Thomas Murray, and Edwin Martinez as Accomplices Janis Corsair and Anne Ackerman as Shoppers Meredith Ostrom as Elfie Luis Santos as Tio Begonya Plaza as Consuelo Orran Farmer as Sucio Jamal Simmons as Trey Production Annabella Sciorra, John Leguizamo, and Forest Whitaker were originally attached to play the leads. Release 'R Xmas' U.S. release was delayed by StudioCanal's difficulty in finding a domestic distributorCinema Gotham and DVDTalk.com http://www.dvdtalk.com/cinemagotham/archives/000384.html Cinema Gotham Dvdtalk.com July 18, 2002 January 17, 2011 and internal financial troubles.Cinema Gotham and DVDTalk.com http://www.dvdtalk.com/cinemagotham/archives/000498.html Cinema Gotham Dvdtalk.com August 19, 2002 January 17, 2011 It eventually received a small theatrical release in November 2002 from Pathfinder Pictures, before being released on DVD shortly after by Artisan Entertainment.http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=4943 'R Xmas : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video Dvdtalk.com January 17, 2011 In 2022, the film was released on Blu-Ray by Shout! Factory.https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/R-Xmas-Blu-ray/327753/ 'R Xmas Blu-ray (Shout Factory Exclusive) en 2026-07-02 www.blu-ray.com Reception Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 'R Xmas holds an approval rating of 62% based on 26 reviews.'R Xmas Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/r-xmas 2026-07-02 www.rottentomatoes.com en Reviewing the film for The Village Voice, Amy Taubin wrote "[the film] is a vertiginous, anti-Sopranos riff on middle-class drug dealers in which not a single shot is fired. In a festival that didn’t stint on violence, Ferrara’s uncharacteristic restraint and understatement registered as a unique accomplishment."Taubin Amy 2001-05-29 God and Man at Cannes https://www.villagevoice.com/god-and-man-at-cannes/ 2026-07-02 The Village Voice en-US Sean Axmaker of Stream on Demand called the film "prime Abel Ferrara territory: a New York tale rumbling with irony and ambiguity."Axmaker Sean 2017-12-24 ‘R Xmas – an Abel Ferrara holiday movie on Amazon Prime – Stream On Demand https://streamondemandathome.com/r-xmas-abel-ferrara-vod-dvd-blu-ray/ 2026-07-02 en-US Awards and nominations +InstitutionYearCategoryNomineeResultCahiers du Cinéma2001Annual Top 10 ListAbel Ferrara10th placeCannes Film Festival2001Prix un certain regardChicago International Film Festival2001Gold HugoNew York International Independent Film & Video Festival2002Grand Jury PrizeBest ActressDrea de Matteo References External links 0217978 'R Xmas Category:2001 films Category:2001 crime drama films Category:2001 English-language films Category:2001 American films Category:2001 French films Category:American Christmas films Category:American crime drama films Category:American neo-noir films Category:Artisan Entertainment films Category:English-language crime drama films Category:English-language French films Category:French Christmas films Category:French crime drama films Category:French neo-noir films Category:Films directed by Abel Ferrara Category:Films shot in New York City Category:Films set in New York City Category:American independent films