Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

hatlad Action packed plot with plenty of twists and turns. Viewer won't get bored watching it.Believable characters, but I don't know if they're factually represented.Great job of acting by every character.Engaging dialogue. The only over-the-top profanity was from the Dutch Schultz character. But I found myself laughing at his way of phrasing things. "Have 'im over for f-ing dinner for all I care."Scenery and setting and costumes and props all immerse the audience in the period. Good stuff!

Tss5078 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.

Newsense Bill Duke has made some great movies like Sister Act 2, Deep Cover, A Rage In Harlem etc and I'd like to see more movies from him. But I also understand that before that happens you will see more films from Uwe Boll and Quentin Tarantino(the most overrated director in the world!). This movie might not have won any awards or gotten praise by these high brow snobs and the trend-following puppets that run amok on IMDb but its still an excellent piece of work directed by Bill Duke(who stared in Commando, Predator, Exit Wounds, National Security and Busta Rhymes' Dangerous video) with excellent performances from an all-star cast.Set in the Depression Era of 1930s Harlem, The only way people could make money was through the "Numbers racket which is ran by Stephanie St. Clair(Cicely Tyson) also known as " The Queen". An arrogant and brash gangster called Dutch Schultz wants to take control of the numbers game and ends up bumping heads with Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson(Laurence Fishburne) who is just released from jail. These two get into a series of wars and everything starts to get out of control. Laurence Fishburne as well as Tim Roth were great in this film. Andy Garcia played it mellow as Lucky Luciano but he was better here than he was in 8 Million Ways To Die. There are also some solid performances here by Cicely Tyson, Loretta Devine, Chi Mcbride(Illinois) and Vanessa Williams(Bumpy's love interest). As far as complaints I have none. Hoodlum is well written and well acted. It pays homage to gangsters but doesn't glorify them. I tip my hat of to Bill Duke for this one. Two thumbs up as high up as they can go.

ajsp35801 I really enjoyed this film. As far as crime dramas go it is up there with The Godfather to me. Laurence Fishburne was great in his role as Bumpy Johnson. Tim Roth gave a great performance also.The film did a great job portraying the inner turmoil of people. Also it did a great job at showing the racist attitudes of the times. Example: Dutch asking his main guy, who is black to wrap up his (shultz) sandwich scraps so that he (the black guy) could take them home to feed his grandkids. Classic subtle racism.The clothes and the music were also good for the period. One scene was even shot at the cotton club which no movie during this period is complete without.Great Job! Great Film!