THAT great?

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2006)

Over the course of 25 years or so, we are told the (true?) story of several poor youths who grow up in the slums of Brazil, leading to a life of violence, drugs, and organized crime. The focus, though, is usually on Buscapé, a young man who chooses not to dive head first into the grime but to simply try and work his way through it. He also has a penchant for photography, which is just the ticket he needs. City of God is similar, both in style and content, to the likes of Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas. Trendy camera-work, (semi-)hip dialogue and humor, shocking, brutal violence, and a mob-like plot line are all aspects of it and actually done decently. The scene in which a boy must choose to be shot either in his hand or foot is a favorite! That all said, there was something about this movie that I did not like and I can't put my finger on itI just didn't leave the theater thinking it was THAT great. And a ranking of 16 (48 when I wrote this review back in February of 2004) on IMDb? I just don't see that. It wasn't a bad movie though.