Hoodlum

Release Date:Rating:

January 1st, 1997

Genres:

Action/Adventure

Subgenres:

Crime, Gangster

Plot Synopsis:

Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson is released from Prison,returns to his old Neighborhood,and is reaquainted with old friends,and coleagues.He soon finds big changes.He goes to work for Stephanie St. Clair...

[+] Full Description

Credits:

Directed: Bill Duke Written: Chris Brancato
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams, Andy Garcia, Cicely Tyson

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Official Site: NA

Studio: NA

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Critics Score Card

[+] Chicago Reader

80

Duke is a superb director of actors, and, as in "Deep Cover", Fishburne manages to suggest a lot with a deft economy of means.
by Jonathan Rosenbaum | Read Full Review »
[+] San Francisco Examiner

75

It is familiarly old-fashioned, complete with montages of newspaper clippings fluttering past and calendar days slipping by. The sets, costumes, old cars and general atmosphere all beautifully recall moviemaking of a bygone era. And for that, hats off to Duke.
by Barbara Shulgasser | Read Full Review »
[+] ReelViews

75

While Chris Brancato's script doesn't reveal anything new or surprising (students of history and fans of "The Cotton Club" already know how this film ends), it's a competent piece of storytelling that incorporates elements of human interest with the threat of escalating violence.
by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
[+] Chicago Sun-Times

75

Duke and his screenwriter, Chris Brancato, don't make Hoodlum into a violent action film, though it has its bloody shoot-outs, but into more of a character study.
by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
[+] Entertainment Weekly

75

The director, Bill Duke ("A Rage in Harlem"), stages all of this with proficient confidence, yet he never truly summons the operatic power of the genre -- the pulp tragedy of ambition built on (and drowned in) blood.
by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
[+] USA Today

75

The Sting-like ending with its crosses and double-crosses could have been better handled, but there are plenty of other payoffs in Hoodlum. [27Aug1995 Pg02.D]
by Susan Wloszczyna | Read Full Review »
[+] Variety

70

Director Bill Duke renders the period saga with passion, but lacks the sort of fluid, organic style the material requires; the film falls short of its aim for mythic proportion. Still, there's a vibrancy that's engrossing, if uneven.
by Leonard Klady | Read Full Review »
[+] LA Weekly

70

Too long by about 20 minutes, the film drags a bit, but the acting--fine throughout--carries the whole thing.
by Ernest Hardy | Read Full Review »
[+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

63

Duke rarely operates at more than a TV movie-of-the-week level of originality, but Hoodlum is still an easy movie to enjoy.
by Liam Lacey | Read Full Review »
[+] Washington Post

60

You can feel Hoodlum hungering to be bigger than it possibly can be. It wants to be "The Godfather" of African Americans, a vast tale of crime and heroism and nerve and ambition. But it tries too hard and ends up feeling spotty rather than deep. [27Aug1997 Pg D.01]
by Stephen Hunter | Read Full Review »
[+] Christian Science Monitor

50

Laurence Fishburne and Tim Roth play the main characters with conviction, but Bill Duke's punchy filmmaking style banishes any hope of storytelling subtlety or psychological nuance.
by David Sterritt | Read Full Review »
[+] The New York Times

50

And while Mr. Duke's direction has visual panache, the movie is unevenly paced.
by Stephen Holden | Read Full Review »
[+] Austin Chronicle

40

At the very least, Hoodlum might have been better off had it been filmed in monochromatic black-and-white instead of the garish color palette (and plenty of gore) that Duke opted for because they, unfortunately, only reinforce the hamminess of the picture.
by Marc Savlov | Read Full Review »
[+] TV Guide

40

Uneven and inaccurate as it may be, it's hard to wash out entirely with a movie that explores as neglected an aspect of classic gangster mythology as this one; at the same time, you can't help but wish it did so more successfully.
by Sandra Contreras | Read Full Review »
[+] Los Angeles Times

30

Laurence Fishburne is one actor who has charisma to burn, but even his incendiary performance can't ignite Hoodlum, a would-be gangster epic that generates less heat than a nickel cigar. [27Aug1997 Pg 8]
by Kenneth Turan | Read Full Review »

See All Critic Reviews (17) »

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