ATL Reviews

A tip of the cap to Tip Harris and Lauren London for it is their chemistry and charm which allows one to believe in their tenderhearted romance in an atmosphere where women are regarded as objects and affectionately called 'bitches' and 'hos.'

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

... a surprisingly strong coming-of-age movie with a great young cast. It pops with color and humor and pays attention to the details that situate it in a real location ...

Full Review | Original Score: 86/100

Director Chris Robinson maintains a light touch, giving the colorful, energetic skating scenes the benefit of his music-video roots, but he doesn't neglect character, drawing sincere performances from his young cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

A light urban coming-of-age dramedy where the veneer may be darkly intriguing, but the finish is pure homily, of the sort where lessons are learned and dreams do come true.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

having solidly entertained for most of its running time, goes out in a blaze of cliche

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ATL is a likable film with an affirmative and hopeful message about the fate of its main players.

Full Review | Original Score: B

One cannot ignore or discount that Robinson is not only trying to tell a conventional tale unconventionally, but he is also attempting to put Atlanta on the map of cinematic city characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Robinson's film is a cut above the rest, seeming simultaneously wise beyond its years and electrically, youthfully playful.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

...a relief from the cynical, slickly packaged teen movies that have been flooding the market.

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...refreshing without going all goody two-shoe, its four friends and their ties to Atlanta not unlike the bunch of guys in Barry Levinson's Baltimore Diner.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Here's the kind of movie that filmmakers should develop more often: It's an urban movie about teen-agers FOR teen-agers. And I hope that teen-agers and adults from all walks of life see "ATL," because it's both gritty and good-hearted.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

ATL This is kind of film that sends all the politically correct signals to its target audience, and does it rather well.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.6/5

"ATL" doesn't explore any new ground in the genre of black teen disillusionment but this is an affecting urban cautionary tale that sparkles in its own self-reflection.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

...serves as the Kanye West to gangster-rap movies such as `Never Die Alone.'

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

It's something akin to the earlier films of Spike Lee -- She's Gotta Have It and Crooklyn come to mind -- in that the characters are cherished for their human qualities, not for how well they swagger onto the screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The story is familiar, but terrific performances and a vivid sense of place elevate it above the average teen-oriented picture.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

For a run-of-the-mill hip-hop drama, ATL has some engaging hooks that set it apart from the predictable formula of urban youth struggling to steer clear of crime and pull themselves up to a better life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

The film's special appeal is that while the boys are poor and black, their stories transcend race and socio-economic matters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

But the story behind ATL (credited to Antwone Fisher, the onetime Navy man in San Diego who had a movie made about his life four years ago) for the most part feels genuine and resonant.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Making his feature-film debut, music-video director Chris Robinson expertly choreographs the skating sequences, which are exhilarating fun.

| Original Score: 2.5/4

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ATL fails to find the right middle ground between its competing dramatic and comic elements.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4