Needs an editor

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2004)

CITY OF GOD is a bit self-indulgent, a film that shuns on the gangster lifestyle yet always eager to promote it. Martin Scorsese and Tarantino's influences run heavy in this nearly 3 minute saga about life in the slums of Rio De Janero. As a result, it's hard to enjoy the subject matter as you're hit over the head with garish displays of a filmmaker gone wild. Nonetheless, the performances are top notch. A group of unknowns perfectly execute the instability of teenagers with access to guns, drugs and money. In one instance, a gruesome scene seems so real, you want to turn your head. Still, I stuck with the main character throughout the picture, a sign that the screenwriter had done his homework when taking on such a daunting adaptation.