When I see a movie with a cast full of rappers, a hot soundtrack and a music video director behind the helm, I get afraid, very afraid. Frankly, a lot of these movies aren't very good. The ATL was better than I expected. Since it features a skating rink, I thought it was going to be a grittier version of Roll Bounce, but it stood on its own story-wise.

The ATL centers around two orphaned brothers Rashid (Tip 'T.I.' Harris) and his younger brother Ant (Evan Ross - that's Diana's boy) as they come of age in Atlanta's Southside. Playing a central role in the boy's development is Cascades, the local skating rink, where they hang out and occassionally compete. Rashid's crew includes the ambitious Esquire (Jackie Long); budding grillmaker Teddy (Jason Weaver), New York transplant Brooklyn (Albert Daniels) and Rashid's girlfriend New-New (Lauren London). Rashid and his friends are trying to stay on the straight and narrow but little brother Ant falls off the path and gets mixed up with local drug dealer Marcus (Antwan Andre 'Big Boi' Patton).

Chris Robinson, makes his feature film debut with The ATL. As expected, the former music video director makes the scenes in the skating rink flow with a nice rhytym and energy. But he also gets solid performances from his stars: TI, Ant and Jackie Long as Rashid's best friend all stand out. Robinson also makes good use of the locations in Atlanta giving his film an authentic film. Screenwriter Tina Gordon Chism did a great job with the dialogue and nailing The ATL lingo.

Co-producers Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins of TLC and Dallas Austin loosely based the story on their experiences growing up and the real-life skating rink Jellybeans. I commend them, and Antoine Fisher who is credited with developing the story for The ATL, for their attempt to be at least try to keep it real. For example, when the boys' Uncle George (Mykelti Williamson), their guardian, finds out that Ant has been selling drugs, he moves quickly from disappointment to a response that is a lot more practical ... they could use the extra money. While it's not the reaction one would want from an adult, it is a real reaction from a man who's not a bad guy but not a saint either.

The ATL takes a while to get rolling and like most movies these days it could benefit from some further editing. Also, the movie is filled with music, mainly ATL rap acts. If that isn't for you, you'll probably be annoyed.