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In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.
Director:
Ridley Scott
Stars:
Denzel Washington,
Russell Crowe,
Chiwetel Ejiofor
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Director:
Sergio Leone
Stars:
Robert De Niro,
James Woods,
Elizabeth McGovern
Cornered by the DEA, convicted New York drug dealer Montgomery Brogan reevaluates his life in the 24 remaining hours before facing a seven-year jail term.
Director:
Spike Lee
Stars:
Edward Norton,
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Barry Pepper
The film focuses on the war of two gangs in 1930s Harlem for the control of illegal gaming - one headed by black strategic godfather Bumpy Johnson and another by white ruthless hothead Dutch Schultz. Negotiations proposed by white syndicate boss Lucky Luciano never get under way, blood flows and Johnson gets jailed. When Johnson is paroled, he gets the work of enforcer for mighty Stephanie "The Queen" St. Clair. She is also jailed for racketeering and when she leaves she makes him promise "no violence". Written by
Anonymous
Though set in New York, the movie was filmed in Chicago because it still has buildings that are of the type that were in Harlem in the 1930s unlike present day New York. See more »
Goofs
The big gunfight where Madame Queen is nearly killed was not filmed in Harlem, but on S. LaSalle St. in Chicago. Several other shots are not Harlem. See more »
Quotes
Bumpy Johnson:
You've been warned. Get ready for your final thrill. It's curtains, Dutch. The jig is up.
Dutch Schultz:
You're a dead fuckin' nigger!
See more »
How great this film could have been! It uses the real history of New York's Gangsters as a background and seems reasonably well researched. At times.
Personally, however, I have several gripes with this movie:
The irritatingly predictable script and much too clean-polished setting seem to come straight out of a "screenwriting-for-housewives" class.
The "messages" in the film (such as its anti-racist and pro-religious scenes) are horribly blatant. The romantic scenes and musical interludes are much too long and boring; the violent scenes too short and clean. Johnson is portrayed as a good gangster at first, which almost works out. His "internal struggle" theme doesn't work at all.
The supposedly elegant Gangster Luciano has to shlep a horrible dog around with him throughout the film. Bumpy Johnson's friend ist forced to do a horrible "funny negro singer" routine, offsetting the supposedly antiracist messages. And that Bumpy Johnson, at the end of the film, finds Gawd and turns away from the evil gangster life is a) predictable and b) idiotic.
"Hoodlum" could've been a great film. As it is, it's merely mediocre.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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How great this film could have been! It uses the real history of New York's Gangsters as a background and seems reasonably well researched. At times.
Personally, however, I have several gripes with this movie:
The irritatingly predictable script and much too clean-polished setting seem to come straight out of a "screenwriting-for-housewives" class.
The "messages" in the film (such as its anti-racist and pro-religious scenes) are horribly blatant. The romantic scenes and musical interludes are much too long and boring; the violent scenes too short and clean. Johnson is portrayed as a good gangster at first, which almost works out. His "internal struggle" theme doesn't work at all.
The supposedly elegant Gangster Luciano has to shlep a horrible dog around with him throughout the film. Bumpy Johnson's friend ist forced to do a horrible "funny negro singer" routine, offsetting the supposedly antiracist messages. And that Bumpy Johnson, at the end of the film, finds Gawd and turns away from the evil gangster life is a) predictable and b) idiotic.
"Hoodlum" could've been a great film. As it is, it's merely mediocre.