Pinero (2001)

A non-linear telling of the chaotic true life story of the late acclaimed Puerto Rican poet-playwright-actor Miguel Pinero, who captivated New York City's cultural elite in the 1970s and 80s. His life is a study in contrasts. Pinero did time in Sing Sing for drug dealing and petty theft. However, he turned his prison experiences into the 1974 Tony-Award winning play "Short Eyes", but the resulting notoriety and fame was too much for the Latino urban poet, bad boy-genius as he retreated to the darker corners of New York City and died a premature death in 1988 at the age of 40. The biopic chronicles his rise from prison to the renowned New York Public Theater--founded by his friend Joseph Papp--and then, to the height of Broadway with his work; his turbulent love life; the founding of the acclaimed Nuyorican Poets Cafe on the Lower East Side; his work as a writer and actor in movies such as "Fort Apache: The Bronx", as well as hit TV series such as "Miami Vice", "Kojak", and "Baretta".