ATL Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
A New American Story
As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.
| Greg Andrews | Jay |
| Monica Arnold | Waffle House Waitress |
| Brandon Bernard Benton | Student in Classroom |
| Adam Boyer | Bartender |
| April Clark | Tondie |
| Albert Daniels | Brooklyn |
| Steven R. Ewing | Fireman |
| Alvin Lee Fleming | Skateman |
| Cameron Gipp | Famous Customer |
| Bart Hansard | Deputy |
| T.I. | Rashad |
| Khadijah | Veda |
| Malika | Star |
| Bone Crusher | Bone Crusher |
| Monique Harris | Sexy Woman |
| Chris Robinson |
4.30 out of 10 (3543 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Great exploration into the "black experience"
posted on 10 Aug 2009I saw the sneak preview of this movie & was blown away by the depth of the characters & how good the acting of T.I. among others was. The soundtrack was outstanding depending on if you like hip-hop/R&B or not. Never the less, this is definitely a must see & not just for blacks. This movie is a wonderful doorway to "black America" for anyone who is curious about our culture. Its PG-13 which made it that much better because there was no over saturation of violence & profanity, which is unfortunately always prevalent in "black movies" of today. Again, this is a must see movie, do yourself a favor & check it out ASAP. To give you some perspective on it, heres a list of some of my all time favorite flicks; American History X, All 3 Lord of the Rings, especially the last one. Malcolm X, Glory, Empire of the Sun, The Matrix, THe Motorcycle Diaries, The Godfather, Prince of the City, Serpico, Full Metal Jacket, City of God, Goodfellas, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Color Purple, Heat, Return of the Jedi. Obviously there are a lot that I missed, but I'm sure you get the point.
Great Movie
posted on 17 Jul 2009I thought this movie was a classic. Most people with the negative reviews don't take into consideration that they were in high school in the movie, so it may have been meant to be a teen movie. T.I. surprised me with his acting ability. I believe ATL was good because it showed different types of people growing up in the same environment and how good things and negative things can have a tremendous influence on how that person comes out. Big Boi also did a good job and I was more than happy to see Buffie the Body's guest appearance. New-New's character was also good because she seemed as if she really had heart and she loved T.I. With that said I recommend this movie and I can't wait until it comes out on DVD so I can put it next to Friday so I can watch it every week.
It Wasn't Made To Be Another "Crash" (chill out with the harshness)
posted on 11 Jul 2009If I could sum this movie up in one word, I'd use "Fair". It wasn't promoting the hood in a way that made it typical. It promoted Atlanta and it didn't amp it up to appease anyone. Diana Ross' son wasn't my favorite character but there were plenty of others who were. Don't sleep on Big Boi. This guy is Hilarious (and very convincing). Jason Weaver and T.I. did a darn good job too. It was authentic. It had flow. If you want Denzel Washington, go to see a Denzel Washington movie. If you want to be embarrassed, go rent Soul Plane. If you're from the A and you want to be proud, go see this. (Even if you aren't. It gives you a touch of our culture) ATL repped us right.
ATL is A Tale of Life
posted on 15 Jun 2009A story about young people struggling to overcome the darker side of the neighborhood. Rashad Swann (Tip Harris) comes of age and takes responsibility for himself and his brother Antwone (Ross) to move toward getting out of the hood. Rashad meets a great girl named New New (London) with a secret that almost costs them their relationship. Antwone gets involved in dealing and suffers from a boss that isn't very understanding. Rashad and his skating buddies spend their time at the Cascade roller rink competing in skating events in preparation for the annual skating tournament that they've won several times. The main characters are all pretty likable and the dialog was a good compromise between reality and prime time TV. They even had an old timer speaking some Jive. You won't find an abundance of emotion from the righteous characters, but it is well worth seeing. Even with all the daily troubles, it doesn't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
Not bad at all
posted on 05 Jun 2009I waited until this came out on DVD, but to my surprise it was really good. When it was in the movies, I couldn't bring myself to pay $9 to watch it, I thought to myself "here goes another rapper trying his part with acting, but both rapper's did a good job. I alway love to see Jason Weaver in parts (he's such so sexy). It wasn't the kind of movie where they made drug dealing seem acceptable, so I gave it a five just for that. This was the kind of movie that I would let my nine year old son watch. But on the real T.I. did a great job and I hope to see him in more roles in the near future. He may be our next Will Smith when it comes to acting, he'll blow up for sure. Keep up the good work TI.
A new, poorly done, crappy, out of shape, vulgar, stupid, gangster crazed, 'American Story'
posted on 18 May 2009I was forced to watch this crap when my friends dragged me to see, and I can not believe I wasted my money for this "American" load of garbage. Who really thought of Big BOI being an actor anyway? The film is messed up in a really horrible way. Every gangster in the 'hood' wants to see this film when they don't really even know what it's about. I can't think of any other words to describe it other than 'bad' (or the title of my review). I never wanted to see this film anyway, like I said, I was FORCED to watch. Yet that is not the only reason why I hated this film. Some people just tried to make a gangster film which tells this fictional story which they say COULD HAPPEN! when really they don't know what they're talking about. If you're going to make a COULD-HAPPEN-film then don't bother making films at all. This film thought it was smarter than anyone else, and although I hate to say it but even the gangsters in the hood are smarter than this crap.
U will be surprised
posted on 18 May 2009Let me first off by saying I am a African-American male in his late twenties who is not impressed by the current state of hip hop today. With the exception of Common, Mos Def, Kanye West, and some Jay z. I don't care too much for hip hop today. I like everyone who thinks like me was skeptical about the Movie but after last night of advanced screening this movie I have to say I was truly truly impressed and will most definitely see it again. This movie is a wonderful movie to take family members too. Yes thats right its a good family flick in my opinion. The acting was crisp and Well done. Ti really surprised me he did a wonderful job acting. His character is not to far from his personality but I can see the man has a stage presence much like Tyrese. What I love about the movie the most is the mixture of 80's and 90's and present time. What I mean by that i, it has a mixture of all of those eras but its realistic cause that is how it is now. This movie has it all hot girls, humor, realism, and again very very safe to take the kids to see. So trust me when I say this movie will and should do well at the box office. Worth the price of admission. Well Matinée price anyway.
A Nice Movie
posted on 14 May 2009"ATL" was a nice movie. The story will be very familiar to fans of the John Hughes teenage movies in the 1980's like "Pretty in Pink". Except this movie is a John Hughes movie as if it was directed by Spike Lee. The whole demographic was shifted from the white California suburbs to a black Atlanta neighborhood. The story is typical where a poor teenager gets involved with someone from the rich side of the tracks and the clash of classes is examined. The portrayal of a social class other than white Californian suburb was refreshing. The performances were good and I was entertained throughout. I think "ATL" is a good move and is worth a watch.
ATL review written by Mike Brown the REMIX
posted on 04 Apr 2009The south has always been making a stance in establishing a place in mainstream hip-hop, and one of the most successful cities to accomplish this goal is Atlanta. Atlanta, more popularly to known to as ATL, is the new dominating force of Hip-Hop music. ATL serves as home to super-producer Jermaine Dupri, Grammy winning recording group Outkast and T.I., star of the Warner Brothers's new film ATL.ATL stars T.I.P Harris (T.I.), Andre Patton (Big Boi of Outkast), relative newcomers. It is directed by Chris Robinson and story by Antwone Fisher. The movie is A New American Story focused on T.I.'s character Rashaad and his 3 friends graduating high school and the directions their lives can take. As reflected in the title, the movie takes place in Atlanta and touches on their particular lifestyle of young Blacks: roller-skating, dope boys, grills and racism.T.I.'s portrayal of Rashaad is above average. At first glance from movie trailers and television advertisements, a misconception can result with T.I.'s performance being written off as another mediocre rapper turned actor performance. On the contrary, T.I. was very convincing and was the perfect choice for the role. His character ranged various emotions between his love interest, family and friends. After seeing his performance in T.I., you will not be surprised to see him again on the silver screen sometime soon.Big Boi as drug dealer Marcus was also very believable. Big Boi's performance will also have audiences across America pleasantly surprised as he broke the stereotype of being a rapper playing a drug dealer. Every scene which focused on Big Boi's character Marcus was full of suspense and showcased his ability to be hated and respect in the same realm. As with T.I., you will not be surprised to see Big Boi again on the silver screen sometime soon.Other notable performances were Albert Daniels as Brooklyn, the New York native relocated to Atlanta, Evan Ross Naess as Rashaad's confused younger brother "Ant", and Lauren London as the lovable New-New. Jason Weaver comedic performance steals the scene as the underachiever Teddy. The breakthrough performance could be that of Jackie Long as the great hope of the group Esquire. The movie was very entertaining over all but suffered from a few clichés and minor missteps. One of the minor missteps was the flow of the movie. Chris Robinson, renowned music video director (Alicia Key's My Boo, Jay-Z's Change Clothes and Snoop Dogg's Beautiful), is a great director and Antwone Fisher, accomplished writer (Antwone Fisher starring Denzel Washington), is a great writer. With that said, I still feel that the movie felt choppy at times with the story telling. As the film gained momentum it slowed abruptly, other than that, the film transitioned smoothly. The clichés of the movie was the Atlanta cameos. I can't fault anyone because if the movie was NYC I would expect cameos from hometown artists. I just felt at times it took away from the movie. As a fan of hip-hop I could easily identify the various cameos and will not expose them. If you don't realize the cameos, it will be a great movie, if you do notice them it will feel less like a compelling story and more like a 2 hour shout out to ATL. Overall, it is a good movie. Surprisingly, it is a movie that you could bring the family to- you will feel joy, pain, and attach to Rashaad's plight in the movie. I recommend that anyone who might have been indifferent to seeing the film, or waiting for it to be released on DVD, to see it in the theaters. It is a quality film, shawty.
A true American Story
posted on 07 Mar 2009This movie rose slightly above my expectations. I'm from Atlanta, and when I was watching this movie, I felt like I was at home. If you are from ATL, you will surely enjoy this movie.I could relate to the characters even. I was reminded of T.I.'s character, Rashad, of myself constantly. The friends he had also had similarities to my own friends.Also, if you're from a different city, or state at that, then it should be interesting to you. It shows different characters. The four main ones are nothing alike and each are connected but still have completely different problems.The only problem I had was that I think this is the only type of movie, T.I. could fit in (no disrespect). He's clearly from the city, but on one scene he seemed slightly false, and on another scene he was close to looking silly.Big Boi on the other hand had a very good performance. He also provides plenty of comic relief and still stays in his antagonistic character. The roller blading scenes were my favorite though. Mostly because it combined performance with hip hop music, which is something I enjoy.This movie is good for anyone. It will give you a nice side of Atlanta and it stays in a class of it's own. It doesn't glorify anything negative. It may not be a classic, but Chris Robinson, Dallas Austin, T-Boz, Will Smith, and Antwon Fisher had something here. Something special.
Not bad at all, actually pretty good
posted on 17 Feb 2009Honestly, this was a pretty good movie. I was expecting this to suck pretty bad, but actually it was actually really good. It was engaging, funny, and i even teared near the end. The difference between this and other "hip hop star gone actor movies" is in this T.I is actually sincere and pretty good actor. Hes not trying to be something hes not, its just really good. I don't know how this has a 2.9 (i suspect most people haven't even seen it and are just voting because they THINK its like 50 cent or eminem attempts at movies.) It was really good though. I highly recommend this to anyone young or old.And i have seen 50 cents get rich or die trying, and i thought it was quite possibly the worst movie id ever seen.
Not a gangster movie, and didn't claim to be
posted on 07 Feb 2009First of all, let me just say that people in cities like Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit do actually skate; it's not just a plot prop.Sure, it's not the "classic" drug, sex and violence hood flick, but it is a very real story and well told at that. I understand that a lot of people expect that from a movie about black people who live in a city and aren't rich, but the fact is, that's not everybody's life. It's not even most peoples' lives.This a love story people. Subtle, but cuddly and honest. I, for one, enjoyed it. And I think that anyone who does not have to, or otherwise manages to, get over what they expect based on what they've seen can find the human tale underneath and enjoy it too.
Is Atlanta Really Like This Movie?
posted on 14 Jan 2009I have been to Atlanta three times. But I have never seen anything in ATL like I have seen in the city of Atlanta. This was the acting debut of Evan Ross (AKA Diana Ross's youngest son and Tracee Ellis Ross' little brother.) He was the best actor in the movie. It was cool to see fly Tae Heckard and fly Lauren London in this movie. Even Monica Arnold had a walk on role in this movie. Jason Weaver and Tasha Smith are type-casted with the same type of roles in every movie that they are in! Tasha Smith always play the young mean mother of outgoing girls. TI and Big Boi need to stick with music. They cannot act! Why did they have to copy the plot of Roll Bounce? Overall, the plot of this movie was very predictable. We should have known that the movie would have a happy ending.
Average movie, better than IMDb rating shows though
posted on 10 Jan 2009Despite this movie not being one that you would take too seriously, i thought the story about 4 friends moving on after high school and resolving issues at the local skate ring they always hung out at was a decent idea, and to an extent was pulled off here. T.I. has got a lot of work ahead of him to become a decent actor, however it was not a bad start, and i have defeintely seen worse from first-time actors, and the fact that he is a rapper, we have to give him some more leeway haha. This is not a movie to be taken very seriously, but for what it is, it does a decent job capturing Atlanta's hip hop scene and a lot of the drama that is involved with the kids out there. This movie is similar to the likes of In the mix in my opinion, and is average. IMDb Rating: 4.5 My Rating: 7/10
Terrible
posted on 07 Nov 2008Alright...first let me say...I'm not much of a rap music guy, but I own T.I.'s Album KING, it's a really good soundtrack for an absolutely horrible movie. First of all, this is just a sad rip off of Hustle and Flow which was great, this doesn't even really have much of a plot...Rollerskating and Comic Books are not what I was looking for when I went to watch this movie...Acting-I can see T.I. is other movies in the furture so I give the acting a 7/10Plot-None what so ever 1/10and thats about it...If you're looking to see it, I would say yes if you like Comics books, Rollerskating and bad movies...
Surprisingly strong film shows the flipside of the dirty dirty
posted on 01 Nov 2008I just got back from an advance screening of ATL--the movie that cannot be marketed as a roller skating flick because Roll Bounce "didn't make money." OK, so I guess that's a major spoiler in Warner Brother's eyes. But I think it's kinda cool to see a PG-13 movie set in current times that shows young men and women battling with the process of growing up. If you've seen lots of movies like me, you'll know where ATL borrows it's cues from--the friendships of Juice, the house party from House Party, the fat girl from Cooley High a dash of Purple Rain the broad tapestry of Last Picture Show or American Graffiti and the swagger of Saturday Night Fever. It also owes a lot to John Hughes' early work. That being said, director Chris Robinson, in his feature debut, delivers strong visuals and an excellent soundtrack/score that constantly reminds you that these are real places, people and problems. He gets excellent performances from his cast--a mix of veteran actors and musicians in their film debuts.The big plot twist in the story (which I won't give away) raises a very interesting question that the movie with as broad a scope as ATL has no way to answer--do these young girls project a "grown-up" attitude because it's fashionable or is it the only way to find love and attention from these young boys who are, in their own way, desperately in search of their own manhood without the guidance of true role models? ATL tels a very familiar story but with interesting hues and nuances that defy the typical "hood" flick. I encourage you to check it out in theaters.
VERY good movie!!!
posted on 20 Oct 2008This movie was better than I expected it to be! All the characters contributed a big part to the movie and the cast couldn't have been better. T.I. especially did a very good job for this to be his first movie. The way they portrayed the ATL was almost exactly on point. The only thing that I would say wasn't common in the ATL was the skating "gangs". That's not something we do or have in Atlanta. But this is the perfect movie to go see over and over again! Most people will probably, like me, expect it to be the same old hood story, but it is more than that. Evan Ross Naess also made a good debut. He played his role to the fullest!!! Him and T.I. played their roles so good that they could actually fool someone that they were real life brothers. Big Boi was the funny character he had me laughing every time he was on the screen. I would recommend everyone to go see this movie whether you're from Atlanta or not, you'll be entertained. I don't think any corrections should or could be made to this movie because it was just that good!!!
Better then what some people on IMDb think
posted on 02 Oct 2008Okay, so what I've seen from the comments posted is that people were all expecting something different from the movie ATL. I honestly didn't want to see this movie. I thought it was going to be another dumb movie that showed that rappers really can't act. But I was pleasantly surprised. The movie isn't about the city Atlanta, its about boys growing up in the city and the trials they endure and the temptations that they give into. Its not a gangster movie, and the person who said it was i'm wondering if you and I saw the same movie. Its about a young man trying to get his life together so that he and his little brother can do something better with their lives. I REPEAT: THIS MOVIE IS NOT ABOUT THE CITY ATLANTA. So don't get on here bad mouthing it because there weren't' enough of Atlanta's attractions or because it didn't show the clubs. And about that, these kids were still in high school, not everyone goes to the club. I thought it was great that they showed young black people passionate about skating as opposed to sex, drugs and violence. So let me repeat this one more time: this movie is not about Atlanta, GA. It is not a gangster movie. And I think its great that it had a happy corny ending and everyone ended up doing well. Young black people who are really in situations like the ones portrayed in the movie need to know that things can turn around and turn out for the better.
ATL is a great movie
posted on 04 Sep 2008ATL is a great movie for all involved in it i think that it is very underrated movie. They thought that it was going to be a movie in the vein of boys in the hood with it's social commentary about the state of black people in todays world, but it just ain't that movie. ATL dosen't have long speeches about African American culture from people drinking 40's and playing dominos. ATL dosen't subscribe to HOOD stereyotypes in fact no one in this movie is ever shown Drinking Beer or Smoking weed, sure ANT deals drugs but you don't see people ever smoke it. it's a movie that isn't about images but about the problems that the characters face that are real to life. the people have problems like what to do after high school and looking out for your family and friends. The actors in this moie are well cast the actors seem to really know their characters, and most of all TI is perfect in this movie he has a great energy that helps fits the movie to a T
coming of age tale with rare humanity to it's urban layer
posted on 22 Aug 2009When it come's to music video director's going beyond a few verse's,hook,chorus and bridge's and moving up too shoot something with real dialog the results are visually appealing work's of disaster.Just look at "BULLET"with Mickey Rourke or the hip-hop star ensemble of Nas,DMX and Method Man in"Belly".Chris Robinsin who has directed music video's for the like's of Alicia Keys,Nas and other's put's out "ATL" a movie set during(you guessed it Atlanta)the last few week's of high school in the life's of Five Inner city children.There is big brother Rashad played by Hip-Hop star T.I. also known as Tip Harris and his brother Ant is played by Evan Ross son of mother,Diana Ross.The movie is filled with mostly new comer's like Lauren London as New-New,Albert Daniels as Brooklyn and Jackie Long as Esquire.The story has a lot of rough end's in it but still is good enough to the point where it can pass as a good coming of age film.So many black themed film's try to create the warmth soulful feeling in a gritty street atmosphere,and come up with a "Boyz N The Hood" rip off but the nice thing about this is it is deep on level's that are watchable but not to a place where it is over the top.As for the performance factor ATL bring's out a lot of good in the actor's.Jackie Long play's it subtle in humor and the dramatic scene's that are hard to carry in a cast of rookies.Evan Ross turn's out some good work as a care free knuckle head who find's his way into the small time drug game.Grammy wining rapper Big Boi does a realistic gangster/player/tough guy portrayal as Ant's boss.The story was created by Antwone Fisher who wrote the great autobiographical film that his life was.He also touched up a few script's including 1997's "Money Talk's".The bad thing is this could of used a bit off script doctoring.The secret that is of New-New is really old which we have seen in episode's of "Cosby Show""The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air""Sister Sister"and plenty of other black TV show's and movie's.Also the choice to cast T.I. as the lead was a really bad decision on Robinson's part.He seem's bored like he choose to do the movie because the recording studio and video set got boring so he said"hymn i am going to give this a shot"when Tip remain's most safe on stage.This is a thing a lot of black film's are faulted with wanting a crossover audience so instead of casting a real actor they get a rapper.It didn't work for Rza or Xzibit in "Deralied so there is no way it work's for the non charismatic trying too hard too charm performance T.I. give's.What this does well is give inner city blues a human feel.One thing I really liked was the relationship of Mykelit Williamson(Forest Gump,Heat)and his nephew's played by Harris and Ross,ultimately this work's as a flawed coming of age movie,no it doesn't compete with other's of the genre it is in but one refreshing thing is it is not a older wise man helping one of the kid's it is kid's helping kid's.