Quality of Life (2004) Reviews

A pair of lifelong friends whose relationship thrives on their mutual love for graffiti finds their creative passions stifled after being arrested over their illegal art form in director Benjamin Morgan's celluloid commentary on the absurdity of "quality of life" laws. As children living in San Francisco's Mission District, Michael "Heir" Rosario (Lane Garrison) and Curtis "Vain" Smith (Brian Burnam) longed for fame and fortune. Soon convinced that the most viable means of achieving their dreams was to spread their names across the urban landscape, "Heir" and "Vain" soon took to tagging the concrete and steel canvases of the city with their lesser-known monikers. As the years passed and their distinctive form of urban art earned "Heir" and "Vain" the status of anonymous superstars to some, others looking to clean up the streets took a less positive view of the pair's covert artistic exploits. When "Heir" and "Vain" are eventually arrested for violating the city's strict "quality of life" laws, the prospect of serving hard time and having their lives turned upside down for the outwardly victimless crime soon proves devastating for the artistically suffocated urban artists. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi