Where City of God provided a heartbreaking insight into Rio's flavelas and gang warfare . . . this film ends up more like a standard buddy movie set against a gangland battle scene
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09/18/08
City of Men (2008)
76 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 71
Fresh: 54
Rotten:17
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Consensus: Brutal and unflinching, City of Men is both a harrowing look at Brazil's favela life, and a touching tale of youths rushed into adulthood.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release: Feb 29, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $242,655
Synopsis: Director Fernando Meirelles scored an unexpected hit with his disquieting 2003 feature CITY OF GOD. Subsequent years saw plenty of similar fare emerging from Brazil, and Meirelles even lent a hand by contributing to the hit TV show CITY OF... [More]
Starring: Darlan Cunha, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Rodrigo Dos Santos
Director: Paulo Morelli
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Reviews for City of Men
It's decent enough but I just wish that it tried for something a little more fresh.
07/22/08
Despite considerable dramatic interest, Morelli's loose, lengthy structure makes it a labor to hang in with.
07/05/08
More bronzed bodies bearing arms leading to inevitable shootouts delivered via a washed-out, hand-held digital style pulsing along to an infectious Latin beat.
04/02/08
The film's overriding message that love and friendship exist under the most hopeless of circumstances is what makes City of Men such a worthy, compelling drama.
03/26/08
[One] plotline ends with a twist that doubtless felt more authentic in the halls of a film school than it would on the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
03/16/08
It plays like a Western, and the violence, while plentiful and visceral, rarely has the kind of raw impact you want in a movie such as this. Morelli keeps most of the blood off-camera.
03/14/08
...not a sequel to City of God, although it sometimes feels like a junior-varsity version of the older movie.
03/14/08
An efficient, simply told story...in spite of the plot's neat contrivances and the movie's determination to pull some edifying nugget from the heartbreak and hopelessness at its core.
03/12/08
Top Critic Morelli's film is most effective at its most documentarian, when it focuses on street detail and the casual, everyday behavior of the people inside the desperate favelas.
03/07/08
May mean well, but its soapy plot and comparatively flabby execution make for a surprisingly tepid combination.
03/02/08
What becomes interesting is how Ace and Wallace, who have managed to stay outside the violence for the most part, start to get pulled in once they uncover information about their fathers.
03/01/08
City of Men, in Portuguese with subtitles, never quite achieves the dramatic impact of the Oscar-nominated drama that inspired it.
03/01/08
City of Men is an intriguing but incompletely developed heir to the far superior City of God.
02/29/08
There isn't enough heft to the protagonists. City of Men tries to flesh out the victims of harsh favela life, but too often they register as scurrying figures in a human ant farm.
02/29/08
Where City of God was ferocious, grandiose, and glamorous, this movie is modest and intimate, acoustic where the other was desperate to electrify.
02/29/08
Top CriticLatest News for City of Men
February 28, 2008:
Exclusive Photos: City of God Sequel City of Men
Two young men struggle to stay afloat amid the drugs, violence, and poverty of Brazil's slums in the big-screen spin-off of Fernando Meirelles' critically acclaimed 2002 film,... More...
February 28, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Semi-Pro is Semi-Good, Boleyn Girl Not Quite Movie Royalty
This week at the movies, we've got hapless hoopsters, snouted socialites, and scandalous siblings. What do the critics have to say? More...
November 23, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
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