Empire

1076 votes and 21 Reviews | Write a Review

Rotten Tomatoes® Score
21% 62%

Release Date: December 6, 2002

On DVD/VOD: March 25, 2003

Drama, Horror

Victor Rosa (Leguizamo) is a charismatic young Latino gangster who holds money above everything and fancies himself a self-made entrepreneur à la Rockefeller, Carnegie and Gates. But Victor’s domain is a successful "street pharmaceutical" business, built around a customized heroin mixture he has dubbed "Empire." Victor’s beautiful fiancée Carmen (Cotto) attends Baruch College, where she befriends fellow student Trish (Richards).

When Trish introduces Carmen and Victor to her investment banker boyfriend Jack (Sarsgaard) at a chic penthouse party, the two men find they have much in common. And when Jack offers Victor a piece of his action on the stock market, Victor immediately sees it as a ticket out of the violent streets and into the safe haven of legitimate business, where clean money and a sophisticated Soho lifestyle await. But as he tries to buy his way out, Victor finds the old ties are not so easy to break -- and that the price of going legit is much higher than he ever could have imagined.