ATL : Film Gives True Taste of the South and Growing up In Atlanta

ATL opens with the credits rolling alongside T.I.'s ride home through Atlanta. Every landmark except the famed Varsity is shown, but ATL residents know enough more about the famous burger joint than a picture could show. Previews for the film make it seem as though it will be another convoluted, gangster rapper trying to be hard for the camera, but actually the film strikes an emotional chord with the viewer. 

Adolescence is when  our real life experiences begin. Sex, drugs, freedom, and the questions of what to do with rest of one's life shape the adults we become. This film cuts to the marrow of life choices, and no matter the neighborhood, these questions arise and ATL attempts to illustrate some through the eyes of a few young men.

Part  Boyz in tha Hood part Friday, the film is a coming of age story for Rashad, (TIP Harris) a 17 year old from Mechanicsville, Georgia. Rashad has had to be the man of his house as a result of the death of his parents years earlier. His Uncle George (Mykelti Williamson) owns a janitorial service and Rashad and his younger brother Ant (Evan Ross) both spend the evenings of their youth scrubbing the floors of white collar Atlanta. Escape is a need that all young people feel. They seek it away from their parents eyes, away from the troubles of their days. For Rashad, escape is Cascades, a skating rink where all the hot girls and all the hot boys go every Sunday night to see what life will bring them.