Empire (2002)

Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) is a drug dealer in the South Bronx. He's made a lot of money with his crew Jimmy, Chedda, and Jay. He calls his area and his product Empire. He gets into a feud with a neighboring rival. His girlfriend Carmen goes to college with Trish (Denise Richards) who introduces them to her Wall Street banker boyfriend Jack (Peter Sarsgaard). Jack offers Victor an investment opportunity which requires him to get a loan from his drug source La Colombiana (Isabella Rossellini).

Leguizamo is trying to be hard and he's trying too hard. The narration tries to be hard-boiled. There is a lot of trying but a lot less succeeding. Writer/director Franc. Reyes is trying to mimic better gangster movies. There are ways to make this work but Reyes doesn't have it at this point.

Fmovies: Here's a prime example of why trailers shouldn't be watched. In the case of the Empire, we see exactly what transpires in the movie. Having to watch the movie today and the trailer nearly a year ago, I still can remember what the basic plot of the movie was.

In either case, the first 80% of the movie is relatively entertaining, with the movie showing us the life of a dealer. But once we switch to the last 1/5 of the movie, everything you saw in the preview was inevitably going to happen in probably less than 15-minutes.

Entertaining, but predictable because of the trailer... 6/10.

I think that this is a great film for a small budget. I don't think that this is any groundbreaking script, but for a cast of semi big names and a budget of only 3 million and something, this film was great.

It had the elements to make the story without explosives, special effects and still be interesting. Sure, it could've been a stronger script, but I think that it was well delivered for the budget and the marketing that it had, which was almost none.

I've seen many movies with a bigger budget and a far far far far horrible script and lots of marketing.

Congrats to the staff and entire crew of Empire. I was overall pleased with the product.

Empire fmovies. There's probably no point in discussing the plot of "Empire," since the whole movie is all but divulged in the trailers, but it's not in my best interest to leave people in the dark. Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo, also providing voice-over narration) is a South Bronx drug dealer who wants to get out of the business and lead a normal life with his pregnant girlfriend (Delilah Cotto), who is expecting their first child. Victor believes Wall Street investment banker Jack Wimmer (Peter Sarsgaard) is his lifeline to quick – and legal – financial freedom. It's not long before his alliance with Wimmer begins to alienate relationships with his friends and partners, which in turn yields serious consequences. This solid storyline is lost in the abyss of director Franc. Reyes' world of near-pitch black sets, endless gunplay, flat dialogue that's composed mainly of colorful metaphors, and rappers playing trigger-happy drug dealers (in this case, Treach and Fat Joe; at least they're a major improvement over stiffs like Ja Rule and DMX). The third act collapses under the weight of its predictability; a field guide and binoculars won't be needed to spot twists that can be seen from a country mile away. Denise Richards pops up in the egregious role of Wimmer's sexpot girlfriend, but don't let that deter you from seeing an otherwise fairly entertaining movie. It's difficult to argue, though, that Leguizamo's talents were better put to use in "Ice Age." 7/10

Empire (2002)

Not knowing much about the drug world, or about the Latino drug world in Brooklyn in particular, I was fascinating on the basic level of curiosity. And some amazement, I suppose.

This isn't a badly made movie. The leading actor, John Leguizamo, is subtle enough as Victor Rosa and has an inner core of decency to keep you identified enough to watch. The plot needs that because there's a lot of the well worn drug violence to wear you out. There is also, however, a second plot element that you don't quite expect—Rosa finds an opportunity to invest his drug earnings into high yield stock deals through a very non- Latino Wall Street man.

So there is a big twist or two to come, and this really makes the movie more of a fictional bit of creativity. Written and directed by Franc Reyes, "Empire" is about all kinds of rivalries. It's also wants to be about love and is thin there. You wish he had taken the slightly different tack the script offered him and tilted away from the shooting and strutting (lots of cocks hanging out here) and more into the minds and hearts of these people, who start to become real for us.

No such luck. Somehow they managed to get Isabella Rossellini in for a small but good part—if you're a fan you'll enjoy that. And Leguizamo adds some tenderness (real or not) to larger scene. And location shooting, frankly, is really nice, showing not the usual sides of New York (or LA) and not the romanticized ethnic neighborhoods (like the Italian or Jewish sections of old), but the regular, rough-edged reality of Brooklyn now. Or at least in 2002. Things keep changing down there really fast.

I don't recommend or not this movie—it's purely about whether you like this kind of world and want to get immersed in it. Nothing really special happens, but it's got a steady interest that might keep you going.

"Empire" is all about a streetwise drug dealer (Leguizamo) in South Bronx, NY who self-narrates his take on how to work your way out of the ghetto and go legit. A slick shoot with a bunch of trite recycled street crime and gangland snippets pieced together for a screenplay, this predictable and contrived flick never really gets where it's trying to go. Chock full of plot holes and nonsequiturs, the auteur asks us to care enough about a thug, murderer, and drug pusher to sit through 1.5 hours of all-sizzle-but-no-steak nonsense about his life. A so-so no brainer action/drama for Leguizamo fans and crime buffs only. (C+)