Movie was just horribly bad, they kinda lied in the previews when this movie was on its way to the movie theater, a lot of people walked out, they didn't expect a ghetto version of Xanadu, thats exactly what this was.It was so bad, and ATL has nothing really to offer, it's a Transient city, you move there if you want to either go to school or seek a job, when that dries up people leave and don't think twice about it, so i don't understand why a movie was even needed, there's no culture other than it's a over crowded over developed predominately black city with lots of crime with a cookie cut skyline.

I have to admit when ATL first came out I didn't even bother to give it a chance. Roller skating? No thanks.Turns out I was dead wrong. It came on HBO a few summers back and I thought 'what the hell, why not?' and gave it a shot.What I got was an engaging, entertaining and plain fun coming of age movie with flecks of the south and an interesting perspective of black culture in terms of class. It's part John Hughes and part Spike Lee (minus the annoying sermonizing Lee often infuses in his movies). Sounds like a damn good combo to me.I think almost anyone who spent their late high school years bumming around with friends, talking trash, working on your swagger, hanging out and wondering what happens next can appreciate this.While I wouldn't take ATL too seriously, I would definitely watch it again. Especially on a hot day with a big ol' glass of iced tea.8/10

--This movie was buried in a mountain of other crap African-American, growing up poor movies, but its story line, cinematography, and direction is the stuff that made Spielberg, Stephen King and so many other great storytellers the giants that they are now. The music is the first thing you notice when you watch this movie. It's very street but very appropriate which makes the movie seems like every other growing pains movie but it IS NOT. The character development is very rich throughout the movie. The characters are very real and you can tell that the writer pulled out a piece of their heart to create this. Anyone who has grown up in a middle or lower middle class family and has strived to achieve more in their life will appreciate this film despite what color your skin is or where you are from. This is one of those movies that is just so sorely over looked and underrated because of the genre it is in. It's about family, it's about friendship, and it's about finding out who you really are by sticking to your principles. If you're looking for a movie that can give you faith back in human beings look no further.~k Honolulu, Hawaii

This movie is much better than I thought it would be. It was very sweet and sincere. It tried to honestly portray real people with both comedy and drama. It both played on stereotypes and also shattered them. I think this movie did poorly because it was not easily categorized. People probably thought it would be a gangster movie and when it didn't fall into that category, people got confused. I think the poor ratings on this movie prove that most critics go into movies with a preconceived notion about whether they are going to like the movie or not and don't give most movies a fair shake. The acting in this movie is very straight forward and sincere. Not a lot is put on top of this movie and maybe that is why some people don't like it. Its pretty straight forward and sincere. I found it refreshing.