'ATL' (PG-13)(out of four)

Here's an impressive parade of characters whose names and faces we'll remember; a world we'll come to recognize as familiar even though most of us know nothing of what it's like to be a struggling black teenager in the suburbs of Atlanta.

Against all possible odds, in an age when most studio films must be able to distill their messages in a single sentence, "ATL" keeps evolving and growing, creating a layered world of details and personalities that immerse us in another's perspective.

It's a movie about that final stretch of high school when days pass by in blurs, nights seem to last forever and the "real world" seems like a figment of the imagination. As Rashad (Tip Harris) says in "ATL's" opening monologue, these will likely be his last days of dreaming about the future, before life gets in the way.

Rashad, whose parents are dead, has grown up quickly for the sake of his little brother, Ant (Evan Ross). After school he works as a cleaner and spends his nights with his crew - his three best friends, including Brooklyn (Albert Daniels), who can't hold down a minimum wage job, Esquire (Jackie Long), who works at a country club and uses its address to attend a better private school and apply for an Ivy League university, and Teddy (Jason Weaver), who spends most of his days gawking at women.

Over the next two months, many other faces will enter Rashad's sphere, notably New-New (Lauren London), a girl he meets during the crew's weekly Sunday-night visits to the local roller skating rink. This hangout is the one constant in their lives, where the various subcultures of this teenage world unite to flirt, fight and strut their stuff. It's also where first-time director Chris Robinson put his music video skills to good use.

As the days stretch into weeks, we see that this is a world of vibrant and endearing people doing the best they can in bleak situations. Esquire is told that he needs a letter of recommendation for school, but realizes his parents don't know anyone rich or powerful. Ant sits through class at the poor public high school that only runs the AC for the honor students. Rashad will see his first true love trampled by issues of money and class.

College is a moot point.

By graduation, each member of Rashad's crew will be rudely awakened from their care-free adolescent coma and their paths, running parallel for so long, will begin to diverge. Desperate to move up, Esquire flirts with issues of class in his desperate quest to run with the Ivy League crowd. Desperate for money and way out of a no-end job, Ant sells his soul for a quick buck. Desperate to protect his brother, Rashad risks his own life, and desperate to protect himself, he turns his back on all he loves.

But still, through it all, there's the flirting, the roller skating, the after-school chats at the nearby Waffle House and the house parties where the first sparks of love ignite. There are the late-night moments of teenage confusion, consoled only by an iPod or a sketch pad. There are the gated communities of the suburbs, the drudgery of working as janitor, and the hopes that hard work can help one move from the latter to the former.

It's a captivating story, about distinct personalities but universal themes -- just as involving as anything to be found in such memorable, close-knit worlds as "Good Will Hunting" or "Almost Famous." The fact that "ATL" features an unconventional soundtrack (rap), neighborhood (the ghetto), color palate (black) and tone (in-your-face) only makes it more remarkable.

It's at once new and familiar; an empathetic triumph that captures the world through another's pained, giddy and driven eyes.