Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 12/26/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R

Action-packed and fueled by Brazilian funk, City of Men returns the makers of City of God to the scene of their first success. In this case, the search for family supersedes the search for identity--not that there isn't a correlation between the two. Though produced by Fernando Meirelles, Paulo Morelli's feature isn't a sequel, but a follow-up to the four-season series of the same name. While Meirelles's movie takes place in Rio de Janeiro's past, Morelli's transpires in the present (not counting flashbacks from the show). Days away from turning 18, boyhood friends Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha, a.k.a. Wallace (Darlan Cunha), grew up without fathers. Ace has a wife and child; Wallace has a steady girl. The duo gets along with the gang that rules their labyrinthine hillside neighborhood or favela, but hoodlum life holds little appeal. Ace struggles to raise his young son--his security guard father was murdered during a robbery--while Wallace tries to track down the dad he never knew. With Ace's assistance, Wallace solves the mystery of his genealogy, but at great cost to their friendship (and lives). Despite the South American pedigree, City of Men suggests the South Central of Boyz N the Hood more than City of God. It's not that Morelli's kinetic film looks like John Singleton's more classically composed enterprise, but that it deals with similar inner-city concerns. That said, Silva and Cunha are every bit as charismatic as Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr.--if not more so. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

It was terrible movie as I was expecting good follow up story from City of God. It didnt look real, if you are buying this movie because you saw city of God you gonna be disappointed

I've had this movie for almost 4 months and still haven't watched it. But I'm a big movie guy and if you like City of God, I know you'll like this movie.

I saw (and loved) City of God. What a film!! Great story, awesomely brought to the big screen. Well, this film is not nearly of the same caliber. The pacing is poor, story somewhat clumsily rendered, and all the action takes place right near the end! I cannot give a thumbs up to this film, perhaps if Mierelles had directed rather than executive produced, things might have turned out a whole lot better!

I had seen the 19-episode TV series on DVD, and I had been awaiting the movie since it was filmed in 2006.

I received the movie on DVD on July 1. I really liked the movie because it stayed true to the TV show ( mostly ) and also because it finally touched on a subject that many whom are familiar with the TV series had been wondering about: the estranged fathers of the boys.

There's not much I can say here without spoiling it. But rest assured that this movie ( preceded by watching the TV series ) is something that you will want to see.

This movie is like a promotional film on why you don't ever want to visit Brazil. Teenagers with machine guns.