A semichoreographed thriller about homeless kids who live on rooftops and crack dealers on New York’s Lower East Side, this is nicely cast with a group of relative newcomersJason Gedrick, Troy Beyer, Alexis Cruz, Eddie Velez, and Trisha Campbelland septuagenarian director Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Andromeda Strain) still knows a thing or two about razzle-dazzle action editing. But Terence Brennan’s script never gets beyond the formulaic, and the relentless wall-to-wall disco music, fancy dance sequences (with choreography by John Carrafa and Jelon Vieira), and other contrivances (including what looks like designer jeans, designer slum parties, and even designer blood) often make this come across as phony, despite the appealing performers. (JR)