From the official trailer to "ATL", I got the impression that this would be a gangster movie about dealing drugs in the ghetto. Actually, this is really misleading; the drug dealer aspect of the film was only a minor subplot. In fact, if they had removed the drug subplot entirely, I think the movie would have been much better, because that storyline just didn't work for me.
The main focus of "ATL" is more along the lines of "Roll Bounce", i.e. a heartwarming story about a bunch of kids growing up in school, dealing with parents and boy/girlfriends, and just having fun hanging out at the local skating rink.
T.I. can't really act, as he spends the entire movie with the exact same expression on his face (his head cocked to the side with a semi-scowl). However, the supporting cast does a good job of picking up the slack, especially the guys that play his friends, who constantly crack jokes about each other.
Not an amazing movie, but definitely entertaining and a lot better than I expected. If you want to see this movie done better, though, go rent "Roll Bounce".
The main focus of "ATL" is more along the lines of "Roll Bounce", i.e. a heartwarming story about a bunch of kids growing up in school, dealing with parents and boy/girlfriends, and just having fun hanging out at the local skating rink.
T.I. can't really act, as he spends the entire movie with the exact same expression on his face (his head cocked to the side with a semi-scowl). However, the supporting cast does a good job of picking up the slack, especially the guys that play his friends, who constantly crack jokes about each other.
Not an amazing movie, but definitely entertaining and a lot better than I expected. If you want to see this movie done better, though, go rent "Roll Bounce".