good back-story, and good acting

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) is a drug dealer in the South Bronx. He's made a lot of money with his crew Jimmy, Chedda, and Jay. He calls his area and his product Empire. He gets into a feud with a neighboring rival. His girlfriend Carmen goes to college with Trish (Denise Richards) who introduces them to her Wall Street banker boyfriend Jack (Peter Sarsgaard). Jack offers Victor an investment opportunity which requires him to get a loan from his drug source La Colombiana (Isabella Rossellini).Leguizamo is trying to be hard and he's trying too hard. The narration tries to be hard-boiled. There is a lot of trying but a lot less succeeding. Writer/director Franc. Reyes is trying to mimic better gangster movies. There are ways to make this work but Reyes doesn't have it at this point.

I've seen this movie twice. And it didn't get any better second time. It's a mix of separate story elements, which, if used correctly, could make a plot alone. Here, neither of them works. Not the street wars, grand hoax or "getting out from crime life" element.The movies with big con-man have interesting twists and element of surprise. None here. The ultimate thief turns out to be just a greedy nerd. Usually, the street wars movies or action thrillers overall, are THRILLING. The pace should be up! Here, the slow motion effect is used to make it look more stupid, as girly headache generator music plays and there's enough of blood to make everything look like horror movie parody. It's simply girly. Stupid, unrealistic and not intense at all. I prefer real ballet with real dancers instead of fat gangsters with guns. And getting out of crime life theme, even if it fits here, is played out so lousily and unbelievably as anything could.So basically, the movie stinks. Unless you like the awful soundtrack and women with proportions of a duck.

For the first forty minutes, Empire really shapes itself up: it appears to be a strong, confident, and relatively unknown gangster flick. At the time I didn't know why, I thought it was good- but now I do. One of the main problems with this film is that it is purely and utterly distasteful. I don't mind films with psychos and things, to prove a point- take Jackie Brown, for example- but they're all so terribly shallow in this, but that is obviously thrown in for entertainment. You literally feel a knot pull in your stomach. Another major problem is the protagonist. He is smug, arrogant, yet- ironically enough- not that bad. He doesn't seem tight enough to be a drug-dealing woman killer. The fact is, at the end of the day, this film is completely pretentious. Not slick, not clever, just dull, and meaningless- this colossal mess should be avoided at all costs. * out of ***** (1 out of 5)

Although I am a fan of the leading cast, I may not have seen it if not for the fact that I grew up with Carlos Leon-the now famous, or rather, infamous "donor" of Madonna's (and his) first child, who plays Hector, and as a rival drug dealer gets it between the eyes.It's hard to suspend your disbelief when you know the guy, but even so, it worked for me-and for that reason. As a former city slicker, graffiti artist, general street punk, and now screenplay writer wannabe, I understand why critics and members here alike, took a stab it the flick. It was obviously low budget-but that isn't a bad thing, and it was well executed for the budget. Reyes gets my full respect for writing it-and for a new kid on the block, hit the street running. Sure, it's been done in one way or another, but most things have. The key to a film like this is that it's always new to some degree because every thug that strives to get out of the ghetto is still a different person, even if he goes about it in a way that isn't entirely unique. I went to Music and Art High School in Harlem, and being half Cuban and half white put me at odds with some ballbusters there. I know what a subway smells like in the heat of the summer as the stench of urine makes it's way up my nose, and what a loaded gun feels like to my face. I've puffed blunts before the terms was commercially known. This is why I give The Writer/Director 2 thumbs up. Because I also Grew up on the upper west side with my father in a doorman building, lurking in the streets uptown was my choice for thrill seeking. I can see why some mainstream white audience took potshots at this film, but they don't REALLY know the score. As someone who has some REAL stories to get out there myself, I hope to follow along the REAL VIBE. Sure, I know that I've got to be original and throw a few twists, but films like this will always have stereotypes because they do exist. It's cliché' cause it's true. My films will have a couple of strong stereotypes ... of course, and that's OK, it's about the struggle of the character, and the process of bringing it out in a way that does NOT require suspended disbelief. Keep it real.