Empire film review

certificate_15

EMPIRE

Vic Rosa (John Leguizamo) is "young, Latin and good looking." The fact that Rosa tells us this during an exhaustive opening voiceover, even though we can see him, is an early indication that Empire's screenwriter and director Franc Reyes has successfully qualified from the school of stating the obvious. Everything that follows only endorses that, with Reyes obviously also a keen student of clichés. Anything that hasn't been seen countless times before was revealed to those unfortunate to see the film's trailer which thoughtlessly gave away a pivotal plot twist.

Vic goes on to explain that, "It's all about making money" and, "you gotta put your money on display." It's something the dapper drug dealer from the Bronx does brazenly as he parks his expensive car in his run down neighbourhood, explaining that respect is the best anti-theft device. With an entourage that includes his girlfriend Carmen (Delilah Coto) and his cronies who help push his own Empire brand of merchandise, the diminutive Vic is clearly a big shot. Empire is about what happens when a street smart hood with ambition crosses the tracks and comes up against a Wall Street hustler.

The film posits the notion that there are parallels to be drawn between those who make their fortunes hiding behind the thin guise of corporate respectability and those whose businesses don't tend to use headed notepaper. When the slick, clean-cut Jack (Peter Sarsgaard) talks to his girlfriend Trish (Denise Richards) about Vic, he explains, "He's a businessman. If he were born in the suburbs, he'd be running a Fortune 500 company." Although the premise has potential, it is dealt with only superficially. Whatever its more meaningful aspirations, Empire transpires to be a disjointed and unconvincing drama, lacking substance and credulity, saved only from complete dismissal by the performance of the always energetic Leguizamo.