ATL

Rising above drugs, guns and ghetto slums, four teenage boys try to live the straight-and-narrow life in hopes of a better future in inner-city Atlanta. While Teddy works at a gold-tooth-capping shop, Brooklyn can’t hold down any kind of job. Rashad struggles to save money and protect his younger brother from the tempting fast life of drug dealing, without help from his cereal-hoarding uncle, while Esquire extorts the “It’s not what you know, but who you know” saying from a corporate powerhouse. However, all of their problems and predicaments vanish every Sunday night at the roller rink as the four friends show off their skilled skating to intense tunes that would make the cast of Roll Bounce jealous. Co-produced by Will Smith, co-written by Antwone Fisher, co-starring two music heavyweights (T.I. and Big Boi) and directed by popular music director Chris Robinson, this eye-opening coming-of-age story excites with its clever editing and animation while it endears with its sentimental storyline.