ATL
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: March 31, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Despite a third-act tendency to gather a few spare genre clichés as it rolls along (Guns! Drugs! Angry siblings!), Robinson's film is a cut above the rest. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Robinson has assembled an impressive young cast comprised primarily of rappers (such as Tip Harris, a.k.a. T.I.) and fresh faces (newcomer Lauren London). Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Buoyed by a superlative soundtrack, ATL plays a familiar song about growing up, but hits notes that sound brand new. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Fresh and unexpected. It feels like a real window on the lives of disenfranchised youths - these are in South Atlanta - as they make their way in a society that doesn't cut them any breaks. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
The film mostly avoids easy laughs or simplistic characters, reminding you how few black movies claim the huge middle ground between chardonnay-sipping buppies and hardened criminals. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The story is familiar, but terrific performances and a vivid sense of place elevate it above the average teen-oriented picture. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What I liked most was its unforced, genuine affection for its characters. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
An emotionally charged coming-of-age saga that will make you laugh and cry, maybe at the same time. Read full review
70
Village VoicePeter L'Official
It's entertainment with ambition, but I can't front though; the soundtrack is pretty fly too. Read full review
70
Washington PostTeresa Wiltz
Notwithstanding the melodrama and the often ham-handed directing, ATL somehow works. A large part of this is thanks to Robinson's skill in evoking the hickory-smoked flavor of the ATL. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The more rink time, the better: As directed by hip-hop music-video king Chris Robinson from a story by "Antwone Fisher's" Antwone Fisher, the skate scenes are a blast. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Robinson makes these characters breathe, and they bring the film to life. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Unlike so many movies directed at teens, ATL is not interested in exploiting its audience. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
If "Roll Bounce" and "Boyz n the Hood" fell in love and had a PG-13 baby, it would be ATL. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Working from a story by Antwone Fisher, screenwriter Tina Gordon Chism is tender toward characters balancing where they come from with where they'd like to go. Fisher was the subject of an inspirational biography by Denzel Washington. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJames Parker
Is ATL even a hip-hop movie? There's hip-hop in it, certainly, but unlike the recent vehicles for Eminem and 50 Cent -- respectively, ''8 Mile" and ''Get Rich or Die Tryin' " -- it does not have a rapper hero. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyTim Grierson
What starts out as a lively reconsidering of the thug-life mentality ends up having as much depth as, well, one of Robinson's videos. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNeil Genzlinger
The fun here is in seeing a new batch of rappers try acting, and some of them turn out to be eminently watchable. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Several good ideas for a movie rumble around inside ATL, but they never coalesce. Read full review
60
VarietyJustin Chang
Higher on stylistic dazzle than originality or coherence. Read full review
60
Film ThreatStina Chyn
House definitely put a smile on an insider's face, but outsiders can enjoy the ATL too. The only prerequisite here is the ability to laugh. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Ultimately, the film could stand to be more inconsequential, because whenever anything happens to move the story along, it immediately loses its laid-back Southern charm. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Ultimately, ATL is the same old teenager angst in a mildly novel package. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The movie's first half hour is a barrage of lazy narrative pointers--endless expository voice-over, freeze frames and captions to identify the numerous characters--and by the time screenwriter Tina Gordon Chism decides to write an extended scene, the story is already dead in the water. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Director Chris Robinson moves his camera aimlessly, cutting in and out of speeches as if he were just as bored as I. Read full review
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