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Empire | 2002 | R | - 7.7.10

Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) works the streets of the South Bronx as the leader of a crew producing and selling a heroine mix called Empire. His Colombian bosses like his business acumen and give him an opportunity to "diversify," with the help of a savvy Wall Street investment broker, if he'll take care of some street business for them. But when he is unable to live up to his end of the arrangement, his only choice is to run for his life. Also with Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard, Sonia Braga and Isabella Rossellini. [1:35]

SEX/NUDITY 7 - A woman bathes another woman (they are both bare-breasted and the woman outside the tub is wearing panties that expose her buttocks); they kiss, and two men watch. Two women kiss and caress two men who succumb to the seduction and begin to kiss and caress them back (we see one woman's hand touching one man's crotch); the women wear dresses that reveal cleavage, bare shoulders and stocking tops and bare thighs. A woman tries to seduce a man (he's wearing a towel wrapped around his waist), she begins to kiss down his bare chest toward his waist and he stops her. A man and a woman kiss tenderly a few times, the man unzips the woman's sweater and we see her bra, cleavage and bare abdomen, he kisses down her stomach and begins to unzip her pants. A man and a woman sit close to each other in a restaurant and they kiss and snuggle; the woman is wearing a mini skirt with a tank top the reveal cleavage, bare shoulders, and her thighs. A man and a woman kiss in several scenes. A man and a woman are shown in bed briefly (nothing sexual is shown) the man is bare-chested and the woman is in a negligee that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. A man in a hospital bed wears a robe that falls open exposing his bare chest. Women wear tight-fitting tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes. Men and women dance in a night club scene: the women are wearing dresses and outfits that reveal cleavage, bare shoulders, backs and thighs. Men and women also dance in a party scene.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - A shootout shows people firing guns back and forth at each other in slow motion, many people are hit and killed and we see them flinch and fall with blood spurting; one man is shot in the side of the head at close range and we see blood and matter splatter on a nearby wall and a young boy is shot in the chest (we see him lying motionless with blood on his shirt). A woman is shot in the head (we see her fall back with a bloody hole in her forehead), a man is shot in the chest three times (we see him flinch and fall to the floor with blood on his shirt) and a man is shot in the head (we see him fall over onto a car seat and a pool of blood collects around his head). A man is shot in the head (we linger for a moment on the bloody bullet). A man is shot twice (in the shoulder and arm) and as he lies on the ground he flashes back to the scene when his brother was shot and killed (we hear gunshots and see a man lying motionless on the ground). We hear a gunshot and see a man slumped against a wall with a large, bloody head wound. Also, we hear a gunshot and then we see the funeral of the man who was shot. A man throws another man onto a pool table, holds him down and threatens to kill him. A man punches another man in the face repeatedly (we see his very bloody nose and mouth), the man being beaten pulls a gun, it is grabbed away from him and several other men hold guns on him. Two police officers kick a door down with their guns drawn, push a man to the floor and handcuff him. A woman punches a woman in the face. A man is held at gunpoint and a man is told to kill another man. We hear that a man was beaten. A man lies in a hospital with bandages on his arm and yells, presumably from the pain. We see a few scenes with police officers rounding up suspected drug dealers; some are shoved around, some are held at gunpoint. Two men and a woman yell at each other abusively. A man and a woman argue bitterly and the man tells the woman to get out of his car. We see bullet wound scars on a man's arm and shoulder a few times.

LANGUAGE 10 - 198 F-words and its derivatives, 1 sexual references, 57 scatological terms, 19 anatomical terms, 27 mild obscenities, 6 derogatory terms for African-Americans, 2 derogatory terms for Hispanics, 2 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 2 religious profanities, 13 religious exclamations, some name-calling and insults.

SUBSTANCE USE - People discuss different types of drugs, and we see drugs being processed and people are shown smoking drugs in several scenes. Also, people are shown drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco cigarettes and cigars.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Money and greed, the American Dream, drug dealing, entrepreneurship, hypocrisy, investments, legitimacy, family, second chances, betrayal, ownership, competition, deception.

MESSAGE - Actions always have consequences. Money is what life is all about.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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