Genre: Dramas
Starring: Tip Harris, Lauren London, Antwan Andre Patton, Mykelti Williamson, Keith David
A tip of the cap to Tip Harris and Lauren London for it is their chemistry and charm which allows one to believe in their tenderhearted romance in an atmosphere where women are regarded as objects and affectionately called 'bitches' and 'hos.'
A well-meaning and good-hearted urban melodrama -- that doesn't really seem to have anything new to say.
I liked ATL for its music and for its all-around good intentions and general amiability. But....
A contradictory approach ultimately muddles the film despite some heartfelt and evocative moments about youngsters growing up on the streets of Atlanta.
The film that proves that all life's problems can be solved with a montage.
... a surprisingly strong coming-of-age movie with a great young cast. It pops with color and humor and pays attention to the details that situate it in a real location ...
Director Chris Robinson maintains a light touch, giving the colorful, energetic skating scenes the benefit of his music-video roots, but he doesn’t neglect character, drawing sincere performances from his young cast.
A light urban coming-of-age dramedy where the veneer may be darkly intriguing, but the finish is pure homily, of the sort where lessons are learned and dreams do come true.
having solidly entertained for most of its running time, goes out in a blaze of cliche
As clichés mount, realism and make-believe jostle against one another more discordantly.
ATL is a likable film with an affirmative and hopeful message about the fate of its main players.
One cannot ignore or discount that Robinson is not only trying to tell a conventional tale unconventionally, but he is also attempting to put Atlanta on the map of cinematic city characters.
Robinson's film is a cut above the rest, seeming simultaneously wise beyond its years and electrically, youthfully playful.
...a relief from the cynical, slickly packaged teen movies that have been flooding the market.
...refreshing without going all goody two-shoe, its four friends and their ties to Atlanta not unlike the bunch of guys in Barry Levinson's Baltimore Diner.
Here's the kind of movie that filmmakers should develop more often: It's an urban movie about teen-agers FOR teen-agers. And I hope that teen-agers and adults from all walks of life see "ATL," because it's both gritty and good-hearted.
ATL This is kind of film that sends all the politically correct signals to its target audience, and does it rather well.
"ATL" doesn't explore any new ground in the genre of black teen disillusionment but this is an affecting urban cautionary tale that sparkles in its own self-reflection.
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