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Movies / On DVD / Empire
Empire

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Empire (2002)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:5

Rotten:20

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: In terms of the gangster genre, Empire's story is yet another tired retread.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, pervasive language, drug content and some sexuality

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 6, 2002 Wide

Box Office: $17,504,595

Synopsis: EMPIRE, the debut film from director-writer Frank Reyes is a Latin GOODFELLAS, chronicling the rise and fall of Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo), a Puerto Rican drug-dealer working the violent streets... EMPIRE, the debut film from director-writer Frank Reyes is a Latin GOODFELLAS, chronicling the rise and fall of Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo), a Puerto Rican drug-dealer working the violent streets of the South Bronx. With an eye for money and a head for business, Victor dreams of one day achieving the wealth and success of a legitimate businessman. When Victor discovers that his girlfriend Carmen (Delilah Cruz) is pregnant, he jumps at the chance to give up the dangerous drug trade and joins forces with two new friends, Jack (Peter Sarsgaard)--a flashy Wall Street Investment banker, and his girlfriend Trish (Denise Richards). Jack offers Victor a new way of life and promises him access to "sure thing" investments. Eager to go legit, Victor quickly embraces Jack's standards of living. He gives up the streets of the Bronx for Jack's slick Soho loft and moves into the fast-talking, money-driven world of Wall Street. However, Carmen misses the warmth and familiarity of her roots in the South Bronx and Victor is torn between his own ambition and his desire to please her. Ultimately, he realizes too late that Jack and Trish are not all who they seem to be, and his best-laid plans begin to falter as he is forced to accept the magnitude of their betrayal. [More]

Starring: John Leguizamo, Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard, Ruben Blades

Starring: John Leguizamo, Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard, Ruben Blades, Isabella Rossellini, Sonia Braga, Treach, Fat Joe, Nestor Serrano, Delilah Cotto

Director: Frank Reyes

Director: Frank Reyes
Screenwriter: Frank Reyes
Producer: Daniel Bigel, Michael Mailer
Composer: Ruben Blades
Studio: Arenas Entertainment

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Release:

Mar 18, 2003

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Reviews for Empire

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
02/17/07
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
04/27/03
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Yes, we're walking those mean streets again. Good thing we're taking a few unanticipated turns.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
12/23/02
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
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A yawningly familiar melodrama about an enterprising hustler who's undone by his own ambitions.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
12/10/02
Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
Variety
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This is the most predictable plot twist since The Greatest Story Ever Told. You really know this one is coming and it just ruins the whole movie.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
12/09/02
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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This movie ... doesn't deserve the energy it takes to describe how bad it is.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/06/02
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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A retread of material already thoroughly plumbed by Martin Scorsese.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/06/02
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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Tries to pass off a scattered, cliched approximation of the real deal.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
12/06/02
Michael Rechtshaffen
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
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A gangster movie with the capacity to surprise.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/06/02
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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Another excuse to trot out the usual ghetto-melodramatic bromides: What Happens When You Leave the Old Neighborhood Behind and Remembering Who Your Real Posse Is and, most of all, Respecting the Woman Who Loves You Best.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
12/06/02
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
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The characters ... are paper-thin, and their personalities undergo radical changes when it suits the script.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/06/02
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
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A standard crime drama enlivened by its sense of time, place and character.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/06/02
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
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It has the right approach and the right opening premise, but it lacks the zest and it goes for a plot twist instead of trusting the material.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/06/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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[Reyes] pushes his shopping cart through the ghetto-drug-flick warehouse, where all the merchandise has been picked over like a Filene's sale rack on the day after Thanksgiving.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/06/02
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/06/02
Arizona Republic
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Leaves no cliché unturned; it's Old Jack City.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/06/02
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
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You never believe for a minute that the character actor and comedian from Moulin Rouge and Summer of Sam is actually a once-ruthless drug dealer trying to go straight.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
12/06/02
John Monaghan
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
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A predictable and stereotypical little B-movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/06/02
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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It's a grab bag of genres that don't add up to a whole lot of sense.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
12/06/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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It winds up moving in many directions as it searches (vainly, I think) for something fresh to say.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
12/06/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Latest News for Empire

June 22, 2005: "Empire" Director to Remake Fritz Lang Film
Reuters beings some remake news: Director Franc Reyes (2002's "Empire") has been tapped by Fox & Regency to helm a remake of Fritz Lang's 1956 thriller... More...

December 13, 2002: What “Empire” lacks in depth it makes up for with its heart. Opens in new window
More...

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