X
- 1997
- R
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 2 h 10 m
- 1997
- R
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 2 h 10 m
Directed By: Bill Duke
Written By: Chris Brancato
- 1997
- R
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 2 h 10 m
- 1997
- R
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
- 2 h 10 m
Hoodlum
50
8.3
Where to Watch
Directed By: Bill Duke
Written By: Chris Brancato
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
50
53% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
29% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
18% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
50
53% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
29% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
18% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Duke is a superb director of actors, and, as in "Deep Cover", Fishburne manages to suggest a lot with a deft economy of means.
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.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 45 User Ratings
8.3
84% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
7% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
9% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 45 User Ratings
8.3
84% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
7% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
9% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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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.
Duke rarely operates at more than a TV movie-of-the-week level of originality, but Hoodlum is still an easy movie to enjoy.
And while Mr. Duke's direction has visual panache, the movie is unevenly paced.
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.
A conclusion featuring a dizzying string of betrayals that leads to a confusing anti-climax robs the film of even cheap action thrills, making Hoodlum an almost thoroughly forgettable experience, albeit probably the only film in history to unite Queen Latifah and The Mod Squad's Clarence Williams III.
People who have seen American Gangster or are regular viewers of the TV show, Mobsters, will know who Bumpy Johnson was and know the story behind Hoodlum. For those of you who don't, Johnson was a member of an organized crime group, in Harlem, during the 1930's. He was also the man who mentored and inspired Denzel Washington's character of Frank Lucas in American Gangster. Long before that film, the story of Bumpy Johnson was told in Hoodlum. This was one of those little told stories about the mafia that started out very strong. Unfortunately, I felt that the writers went into far too much detail at certain points in the film and by the end it was definitely dragging on. Laurence Fishburne stars as Johnson and did an adequate job, my problem with his has always been he lacks emotion in his acting. In my humble opinion this should automatically disqualify him from certain things and this probably should have been one of those things. Tim Roth is Dutch Schultz and while Schultz had a reputation for being a character, Roth went a little over the top with it, but was still very entertaining. My favorite performance was of course the one by Andy Garcia as Lucky Luciano, but he really wasn't in the film much and that's a shame, because nobody plays a crime boss better than hen does. Hoodlum is a wild ride about an incredible true story, but as a film, it was a mix of terrific scenes and some slower unnecessary elements. As a film it's not the best, but it's worth watching just for the amazing story that is being told.
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