Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2010) - Rotten Tomatoes

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2010)

TOMATOMETER

76%
67%

AUDIENCE SCORE

78%

Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Photos

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Movie Info

Starting off with simple smash and grabs, and petty crime, Lucky Kunene quickly graduates to more aggressive heists such as armed robbery and carjacking. Soon, Lucky realizes he needs a bigger score to fulfill his goals of making it big, and escaping from the slums, to a dream house by the sea. Kunene hatches an elaborate and violent plan to make his fortune - hijacking buildings from landlords of Johannesburg tenements by winning the favor of the tenants and then holding their rent hostage from the landowners. His trouble with the law, coupled with an escalating war between a local drug lord, creates a tense standoff: both sides are closing in, and Kunene must stay one step ahead-or his empire, and his life, will come crashing down.

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Cast

Rapulana Seiphemo
as Lucky Kunene
Jeffrey Sekele
as Nazareth
Ronnie Nyakale
as Zakes Mbolelo
Malusi Skenjana
as Tony Ngu
Shelly Meskin
as Leah Friedland
Robert Hobbs (II)
as Swart
Jafta Mamabolo
as Young Kunene
Motlatsi Mahloko
as Young Zakes
Kenneth Nkosi
as Sithole
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Critic Reviews for Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (6)

rags-to-riches tale cut from the same cloth as City of God, Goodfellas and Scarface.

July 7, 2010 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Top Critic

Writer-director Ralph Ziman strings it all together with slick competence, but given that leading man Rapulana Seiphemo does a persuasive line in moral ambiguity, it's disappointing that the proceedings too often default to glib shoot-'em-up.

July 6, 2010 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Top Critic

It's easy to overlook the formulas and just enjoy the ride.

June 11, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Top Critic

The opening credits of Gangster's Paradise note that it was "inspired by real events." It would be more accurate to say that the film was inspired by Brian De Palma's Scarface and similar fare.

June 11, 2010 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Top Critic

Startlingly original, if occasionally overambitious. This is Tsotsi without the feel-good glow, a tale of entrepreneurship's perils and boundless pleasures.

June 10, 2010 | Full Review…
Top Critic

Though South Africa's racial strife is frequently invoked, sociopolitical inquiry takes a backseat to creaky gangster-cinema tropes.

June 8, 2010 | Full Review…
Top Critic
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