Hoodlum

The 1997 movie `Hoodlum' takes place during the depression. A black man named Ellsworth `Bumpy' Johnson (Lawrence Fishburne) was released from prison and went back to Harlem. Then he joins his cousin, Illinois Gordon, and gets back into an illegal lottery racket ran by Madame Queen. They call the game `numbers.' They say that numbers is the only business in Harlem which provides them with work. A white man from uptown named Dutch Shultz (Tim Roth) is also trying to run the numbers downtown in Harlem, and there ends up being a battle between Shultz and the Queen. Madame goes to jail and leaves Bumpy in charge. Bumpy meets a fine woman, Francine (Vanessa Williams), who sees good in him and wants him to stop messing around with `numbers.' But she stays by his side while things get chaotic. Will he realize what he should do in time or will he lose everything? The director Bill Duke has a message in this movie. It says when people are left limited options, they are going to find a way to get by. In one scene, Bumpy is telling Illinois because of the depression there isn't very many jobs and white men didn't leave them any jobs, so they had no options for making money other than through the numbers racket. This movie had fast paced action. I liked the part where Dutch Shultz wants Madame Queen's organization out of the numbers racket in Harlem, so he can make all the money from it. Bumpy, who works for Madame Queen, comes up with a plan for eliminating the problem of Dutch, by getting Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia), another gangster, and Dutch in a fight. This movie is a `classic gangster movie.'

Bumpy Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) is a gang leader of 1930's Harlem whose successful 'Numbers' racket attracts ruthless Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) from downtown. Meanwhile gangland boss Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia) try to negotiate his way in. Bumpy refuses to give in, and violence ensues. Director Bill Duke is attempting a grand gangster movie, but really don't have the skills of a master filmmaker to pull it off. The pace is ponderous. And even the action is unenergetic. There are a lot of great actors, but there are also some distracting overacting. Laurence Fishburne is great, and Tim Roth is wonderful as a bad guy. But I wouldn't recommend this even with these great actors.

`Harlem 1934. In a world impoverished by the great depression, the single largest business in Harlem is an illegal lottery known as the `numbers'. For many, a winning numbers slip is the only chance to put food on the table. The undisputed leader of the Harlem numbers is Madame Queen, who has run this multi-million dollar business quietly and peacefully for over a decade. Notorious gangster Dutch Schultz has defied the wishes of his partner, crime chief Charles `Lucky' Luciano and decided it's time to share in the profits. There is only one obstacle in Dutch Schultz's path of destruction. His name is Ellsworth `Bumpy' Johnson.' That's the legend that comes on screen before the film starts, it basically tells you everything you need to know about the plot. Essentially it's an old fashioned gang war style film - it even has the spinning newspaper headlines and the background shots of people firing machine guns! The story holds no surprises and it's nothing new, however it is entertaining enough stuff if a little too long for it's own good. The way it is put together is very workman-like way. It has all the old tricks that other gangster films do and it doesn't do anything new. As such the cast don't do anything special either. Fishburne is nowhere near his best, he could have done this in his sleep. Similarly Garcia doesn't do anything special. Roth however hams it up wildly with his American accent thick as ever. The support cast stick to their stereotypes well - Williams plays the beautiful `virgin' type sucked into the gangster world, and various henchmen do their thing well. The cast does have some terrible performances - many of the black gangsters in fact are quite bad. The worst by far is the actress who played Madame Queen. She isn't convincing for one second, her accent is ridiculous and her performance is bad ham in every scene. Overall it's entertaining, although could have easily been 30 minutes shorter. However it's nothing special and nothing new. Given the cast involved I was really disappointed with the end result and expected better.

This is arguably one of the worst films i've ever made let alone that i've seen. It's acting is clunky and irritating and i find it surprising that the one comment available on this web site is in praise of it. You will forgive me for questioning the reliability of this...but the writer must by no stretch of the imagination be a complete moron if he has any feeling stronger than disdain for the candour of this film. I am sure that any of the principal artist involved share my opinion of the films utter unnecessary quality (their Pilate's and colonic irrigation funds must have been running low)...to put it bluntly i wouldn't imagine it's something they put in their C.V. NEVER WATCH THIS FILM IT IS DREADFUL

A solid, well-to-do flick, "Hoodlum" is a good film trying to live up the dying genre of the 1930's gangster flick. Laurence Fishburne is in top form as Bumpy, an ex-con from Sing Sing who becomes a big time ganglord in Harlem. While not tackling enemies such as Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) and Lucky Luchiano (Andy Garcia), Bumpy romances his girl Francine (the fine Vanessa Williams). Packed with machine gun-toting violence, "Hoodlum" has the cool style of modern day crime thrillers such as "New Jack City" and the sneering Al Caponeish look of the old style

I would highly recommend the movie. I am not a big fan of gangster movies but this one it's much larger than that. I was browsing through my cable channels, stumbled on it and got hooked right away. The performances are awesome, the directing excellent, the costumes & sets perfect. And the story, well...true. That's what makes the movie even more attractive. The reason I am posting this comment - I've never done it before - is because I got irritated by critics' opinion about it. I am no movie expert, but to trash this one it's just plain or deliberate oversight. Please don't skip the movie just because somebody else tells you so. Give it a shot and you won't regret it. I promise.