Iknow Empire is supposed to be a movie, but for a while, I thought I was listening to one of those talking books.

This is a movie where the first 10 minutes is almost entirely narration and where the percentage decreases only slightly throughout the rest of the film. Outside of the History Channel, that much narration is never necessary, a sure sign of a weak script. And that's just what it is here.

Maybe first-time director Franc Reyes confused narrative with narration; narrative is what drives a movie along, what makes it flow in a given direction, what helps the story make sense. Narration is what David McCullough does so well on PBS. The two aren't the same thing.

John Leguizamo stars as the narrator, a South Bronx punk named Victor Rosa who fancies himself a big-time businessman (we're told all this in the narration, so don't worry about having to pay much attention to what happens onscreen). His business is drugs, and he's doing quite well for himself.

Then, one fateful day, his too-good-for-him girlfriend Carmen (Delilah Cotto) takes Victor to a posh Manhattan party at the condo of her best friend's boyfriend, Jack (Peter Sarsgaard, straight out of the prep handbook). Jack, an investment banker who's not doing too shabbily in the income department either, strikes up a conversation with Victor, whom he sees as a kindred spirit, a guy who understands life is a business, and the only mark of success is how many dollars you can claim as your own.

So Victor and Jack start a partnership. Victor starts giving all his drug money to Jack, who then takes the satchels full of cash - he must have some serious explaining to do at his bank - and pours them into high-return investments.

It doesn't take long before Victor is hooked, abandoning the streets where he grew up for a SoHo penthouse and - this is an important plot point, so listen to the narration closely - even persuading the local drug kingpin, La Columbiana (Isabella Rossellini, miscast), to invest some of her cash.

Of course, things go wrong, as Victor abandons all the pals he grew up (and sold drugs) with in favor of these high-flying Manhattanites who simply don't have his best interests at heart. Eventually, having his old friends turn against him is the least of his problems.

It's not hard to see where Empire is headed; one of the things audiences may like about the film is that everyone is going to feel smarter than Victor, who probably should shut his mouth sometimes and try thinking instead.

Leguizamo is pretty much the only cast member who's asked to really do anything in Empire; Sonia Braga, as Carmen's mom, barely registers. And some day, Denise Richards, who plays Carmen's friend, Rish, is going to get a part where she has to do more than look exotic and beautiful.

Leguizamo gives the movie what weight it has. He's good - good enough to make all that narration seem even more ridiculous. As the camera shows a cocksure Victor walking up the street in slow motion, the narration tells us how important he feels, how handsome and tough, how totally invulnerable. But just watching Leguizamo tells us all we need to know; that's why movies have actors, not pages.

Empire

Starring John Leguizamo

Written and directed by Franc Reyes

Released by Universal Pictures

Rated R (Language, violence, sexuality, drug use)

Time 90 minutes

SUN SCORE * 1/2