Wow.

Visually stunning.

The "Runt" scene w/ Lil' Ze was....just gotta watch it.

Superb directing, editing, music, cinematography.

Fabulous pacing.

I see the criticism in that the violence has no emotional weight, but isn't that the point? That's the way I see it. Lil' Ze and them had no compunction when unleashing their wrath. As they move on, the audience moves on...so we feel how they feel...or rather, see how they feel. Like what some already said, the emotion was kept at a distance like how it is in their lives.

I'd love to have seen more of the love stories, but it would've broken the "hoodlum" aspect of the film. Like if we saw more of Benny and Angelica, then, I suspect many would feel the film broke from being "true" to its theme and tried to fit too much into the film, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love this film. I just watched it today, and might watch it again tonight with my other group of friends.

My only beef, and it's just a teaspoon of ground beef, no major beef, is it's ultra-violence. Based on a true story, so gotta do what you gotta do and be true to realism. But, that's just my personal preference not to see violence.

It felt like 3 and 1/2 hours in there, but it's just 2 hours and 20 minutes...a tribute to the pacing and editing.