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 Hoodlum (DVD)
Description: Genre: Action & Adventure / Theatrical Release: 1997 / Director: Bill Duke / Actors: Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth ... / ... more  Hoodlum (DVD) ... DVD released 19 March, 2001 at MGM Entertainment / Features of the DVD: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen / Hoodlum, Bill Duke's interesting but flawed blaxploitation take on the classic gangster movie, usefully redresses a balance. It is all too easy to see the criminal underworld of the 1920s as an all-white affair, in which Harlem is an exotic locale where occasionally white gangsters patronise the black performers of the Cotton Club, from which black audiences were specifically barred. Yet one of the principal sources of illegal revenue was the numbers racket in Harlem--gambling on stock market closing figures--revenue on which the likes of Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano were keen to lay their hands. Lawrence Fishburne is an impressive "Bumpy" Johnson, the street enforcer turned strategist for the matriarchal Queen (Cicely Tyson), gradually learning a ruthlessness that forfeits him the love of a good woman, Francine (Vanessa Williams). Tim Roth as Schultz and Andy Garcia as Luciano are essentially melodramatic turns--the foul-mouthed punk and the reptilian smoothy--and both turn in enjoyably full-blooded unsubtle performances. --Roz KaveneyNewest Review: ... Fishburne). Let out of prison, he returns to his home to work for the Queen, helping her in the war with Dutch. Then it ... more ... gets all Scarface on us: Johnson takes the girl and the business, and takes it to new heights of profitability. But at the expense of decency, honour and the odd life. Hoodlum watches as Johnson's ambition serves him well, rising in status and wealth in amongst his old friends. Eventually rising just a little bit too high, he has to stand back and look at what he's doing or risk what's closest to him. Been done before? Of course it has, but unlike most similar films, the majority of the cast is black. ...more |
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Hoodlum (DVD): We live in inflationary times (771 words)
by Sputnik_257 - written on 21.10.01 (Very useful, 68 readings)
Rating:
"I'll make you an offer--" Oops no, wrong one. Ummm "say hello to my little--", no not that one. Ah yes: "We live in inflationary times". Not quite the same is it? Hoodlum hasn't exactly blown its way through the film world, and never will -- relegated to 'good but not great, seen it before ganster film'. Which is a pity, as Hoodlum is an excellent film. Based on a true story, we're in New York, or rather Harlem -- pretty much its own city -- in the early thirties. The worldwide Depression is squeezing Harlem dry, and the main way to earn a dollar or two has become gambling. More specifically, the ...
If you liked the untouchables.... (204 words)
by sikim - written on 06.02.01 (Very useful, 81 readings)
Rating:
..then watch this movie. Hoodlum is the "true" story of Elsworth "Bumpy" Johnson an ex-con turned gangland leader, played by Laurence Fishburne. The film is based on the turf war in Harlem in the 30's between Bumpy Johnson and Bronx gangster "Dutch" Schultz played by Tim Roth. It is based around a sort of lottery game called "numbers" where you bought a single number from a dealer each week. Andy Garcia plays the "Godfather" of the time in New York, "Lucky" Luciano, who is portrayed as a calm, rational, businesslike man who lets everything happen with little interference. Vanessa Williams ...
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