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Printer-Friendly ModeATL mixes comedy, drama in honest urban portrayal
April 10, 2006 —
ATL is an effective film about young urban life in ATLanta. It revolves around two brothers whose parents were killed years ago. The brothers now live with their uncle in their parents' house, and the movie explores the relationship between the three, as well as the experiences of the two brothers out of the house. While it is sometimes a bit predictable, ATL is an honest movie, and it provides a solid vantage point from which to see the events as humorous at times, happy at times, and dark at others.
Rashad is the older brother, played by rapper T.I., and the movie mostly uses him as its center. It is his final year of high school, and there are only a few weeks of school left. ATL covers these final weeks, a crucial time period for anyone, and shows us what happens to Rashad and his friends and family during this time.
Rather than have the senior year backdrop for the movie be the last season of basketball or football, as many movies have done, ATL uses the roller skating competition at Cascade, the local roller rink, as its backdrop. Rashad and his friends have their own team and every Sunday they, along with seemingly hundreds of other people, go to Cascade to work on their moves in preparation. The group of friends also frequently discusses the competition at school, out to eat, and whenever else they are together, pondering and shooting down new ideas. This is a tradition to them, and of vast importance.
Around all of this, various subplots unfold. Rashad's younger brother idolizes the gangster image, and after seeing a local drug dealer driving around in a tricked-out SUV, decides to find out more about it. He ends up as a small time dealer working under the very same man he saw initially, and his story becomes a dark one. In another interesting subplot, Rashad's friend Esquire, who has his mind set on Ivy League, develops a relationship with John Garnett, a reputable business man, hoping for a letter of recommendation, and makes a surprising if slightly hackneyed discovery about Mr. Garnett's identity.
The heart of the story though, lies with Rashad, as he forms a romantic relationship with a seemingly new girl in town (aptly named New-New). Rashad struggles with this relationship, as well as what his friends think of him, and of course has to deal with the recent actions of his younger brother. Of course, all of this inevitably leads to a consummation in which all of these storylines come together in grand fashion, and although it is easy to see coming, it works.
Something also must be said of the balancing between drama and humor in ATL. The movie does a good job of remaining lighthearted, yet serious at the same time. Hearkening back to movies like The Breakfast Club in that it is not a full-blown drama, and even further from a full-blown comedy, this balancing act results in a pretty refreshing change of pace from all the standard recent movies, which can mostly be classified straight as horror, action, or comedy.
So while the viewer may never be struck with a tidal wave of emotion while watching ATL, this is certainly a movie that is worth seeing. Some of the roles are a bit forgettable, but the overall picture is what counts, and the overall picture is where ATL shines.