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Hoodlum
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Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critics What's this?

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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 17
  3. Negative: 3 out of 17
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    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.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    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]
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    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]
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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. RobD.
    8
    I too am a mafia buff who has long been waiting for a movie about Dutch Schultz (let's just forget about Billy Bathgate). Dutch is portrayed by Tim Roth, who expertly shows the character's merciless cruelty and disregard for pretty much everbody. However, this is a much better movie than Jesse B. tells you. It is a well-crafted character study showing the slow corruption of Laurence Fishbourne's character. The sets in the movie are probably the most acurate representation of Harlem ever in a movie. While it does take some liberties with historical accuracy, the point of a movie is to entertain, and this film delivers.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. JesseB.
    1
    The onlt reason it got a 1 was for the cast. I am a mafia history buff and felt that the Dutch Schultz story was long over due. All the appaling historic inaccuracies made me curse. Plus the movie was boring and vapid taboot. Hoodlum should have never been made, it should be outlawed and all original copies burned. For shame, Hollywood, forshame.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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