Absolutely amazing

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Action packed plot with plenty of twists and turns. Viewer won't get bored watching it.Believable characters, but I don't know if they're factually represented.Great job of acting by every character.Engaging dialogue. The only over-the-top profanity was from the Dutch Schultz character. But I found myself laughing at his way of phrasing things. "Have 'im over for f-ing dinner for all I care."Scenery and setting and costumes and props all immerse the audience in the period. Good stuff!

Pros: Great cast, really nice costumes and settings. Fairly good story.Cons: Edgeless directing. Poor acting on some parts. Poor stunt fighting. Poor dialogue and some irrational behavior from characters.Let me first dream what this could have been with the right director; a dark, realistic, gangster drama with both emotions and action, as well as memorable performances.A reality check gives me a bleak movie. It is not exactly bad, but it never takes off in any way. It starts off with a street fight, so poorly performed you'd think it Star Trek from the 60's. It really makes it feel like you're watching a play, and that feeling sticks.The cast is great, although some subpar acting exists. Mainly from the duo of Chi McBride and Loretta Devine, who sometimes seems to play a parody of Afro American stereotypical acting. The weak dialogue and unsharp cutting/directing, hampers the rest of the cast though.What you'll get is a walk through a nice setting, seeing some nice people along the way. But the only thing you'll remember is what it could have been.

Interesting film about the rise of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Morgan portrayed by Lauwrence Fishburn and the fall of "Dutch" Schultz portrayed by Tim Roth. My preference goes to the Dustin Hoffman version of "Dutch" Schultz in the more accurate rendering featured in "Billy Bathgate". "Hoodlum" falls short when they showcase Dutch being hit by his own henchman in the restaurant bathroom while in "Billy Bathgate" they get it historically right as Dutch's gang (five men) are wiped out in the restaurant by "Lucky" Luciano's gang. Hoodlum may fall short on accuracy but keeps the viewer on their toes as to what happens next. Probably one of the most accurate films I have ever seen was Rod Stieger's performance in "Al Capone".

Bill Duke has made some great movies like Sister Act 2, Deep Cover, A Rage In Harlem etc and I'd like to see more movies from him. But I also understand that before that happens you will see more films from Uwe Boll and Quentin Tarantino(the most overrated director in the world!). This movie might not have won any awards or gotten praise by these high brow snobs and the trend-following puppets that run amok on IMDb but its still an excellent piece of work directed by Bill Duke(who stared in Commando, Predator, Exit Wounds, National Security and Busta Rhymes' Dangerous video) with excellent performances from an all-star cast.Set in the Depression Era of 1930s Harlem, The only way people could make money was through the "Numbers racket which is ran by Stephanie St. Clair(Cicely Tyson) also known as " The Queen". An arrogant and brash gangster called Dutch Schultz wants to take control of the numbers game and ends up bumping heads with Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson(Laurence Fishburne) who is just released from jail. These two get into a series of wars and everything starts to get out of control. Laurence Fishburne as well as Tim Roth were great in this film. Andy Garcia played it mellow as Lucky Luciano but he was better here than he was in 8 Million Ways To Die. There are also some solid performances here by Cicely Tyson, Loretta Devine, Chi Mcbride(Illinois) and Vanessa Williams(Bumpy's love interest). As far as complaints I have none. Hoodlum is well written and well acted. It pays homage to gangsters but doesn't glorify them. I tip my hat of to Bill Duke for this one. Two thumbs up as high up as they can go.