There is an excellent movie struggling to get out of this rather derivative, mediocre one. There are nice grace notes and a few well-constructed scenes throughout, but in the end you feel like you've seen it all before. Clifton Collins Jr. confirms the promise of his intense performance in the fabulous Tigerland by following it up with the convincing character of Raymo. The others in the largely unknown cast work well together. The hip-hop soundtrack, standard among urban-themed films, is a negative; the beats are depressing unto themselves, and when paired with the onscreen action, the two elements conflict. Standard orchestration, or, if the budget didn't allow that, more ambient, regional music would have worked better to brighten things up. Road Dogz is not without its merits, but there aren't enough of them to send it over the top.