Hoodlum (1997)

 

Release Date: August 27, 1997

Director: Bill Duke

Writer(s): Chris Brancato

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Williams, Cicely Tyson

Estimated budget: $30 million

U.S. Box office: $23,499,102

 

Having just been released from jail, Bumpy Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) returns to his criminal ways as a linchpin in the African-American-run numbers racket. However, Bumpy's longtime friend Illinois Gordon (Chi McBride) and girlfriend Francine Hughes (Vanessa Williams) are both eager to get him back on the straight and narrow. But a brewing rivalry with Mafia boss Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia) and his henchman Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) threatens to raise the stakes to dangerous new levels.