The last time I saw Tyson Beckford in a film was a couple of years ago in 'Into The Blue' with Jessica Alba. He played a henchman of some sorts. The film was critically panned and I thought he may have talked to Naomi Cambell and just stuck to his day job of modeling.

Well, he must really want to be in the business and may have taken some acting lessons because he's now the star of an indie film, 'King of the Evening' that's been making the festival rounds.

Directed by Andrew P. Jones, 'Kings of the Evening' stars Lynn Whitfield, Glynn Turman, Tyson Beckford, Bruce McGill, James Russo, Reginald T. Dorsey, Justin Malloy and Linara Washington.

Homer Hobbs (Beckford), home after two years in jail, discovers that life on the outside can be crueler than the back-breaking injustice of the chain gang.

He returns to a bleak urban town caught in the depths of the Great Depression - no jobs, no prospects, no hope – where he is thrown together with four strangers, each struggling to survive as they scratch and scheme to dig their way out of poverty: Benny, the street hustler eager to begin life anew in the sunshine of Florida; the suicidal Clarence, a nobody who aches to be somebody; Gracie, the despairing owner of a boarding house who lives with a secret; Lucy, whose past has caught up with her and threatens the lives of those she has come to love.

Life is grim. But on Sunday nights, in a dingy hall in a forlorn neighborhood, the men of the ghetto piece together the finest attire their meager lives can beg, borrow or steal to compete in an underground contest like no other. The big winner will go home with the five dollar prize. The real prize – far less tangible, yet priceless – is the chance to feel like a king, if just for an evening. To men like these, the touch of a woman, the adulation of the crowd, the feel of a fine-looking suit are proof enough that a man might yet escape the debasement of the ghetto.

Does Homer have what it takes? Does Clarence overcome his demons? Does Benny escape the degradation of life on the street? Each man has his doubts. Each has his dreams. But only one can emerge – King of the Evening.