American Gangster

Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal

Dir. Ridley Scott
Scr. Steven Zaillian

With American Gangster, Ridley Scott gives audiences a solid start to 2008. It’s not the classic that is it perhaps hoping to be, but nevertheless, this film is compelling and well acted. It’s a story of some very different conceptions of what is right and what is wrong. There is perhaps not much that is new or enlightening here – we have seen the drug world, the corrupt cops world, many times before. But you won’t be bored or disappointed by this film – it’s an entertaining trip to a gritty time and place.

American Gangster tells the true story of Frank Lucas (Washington), a drug smuggler and crime lord in New York in the 60s and 70s, and the cop (Crowe) who tries to bring him and his operation down. In a time when the Italian Mafia ruled the roost, Lucas did what many thought impossible – had the Mafia working for him. By importing pure heroin direct from Korea and offering a better product at a cheaper price, Lucas made a lot of money and just as many enemies. Just as interesting a character is Richie Roberts (Crowe) – an honest cop in a time when every second cop was on the take.

It is Crowe and Washington who hold this movie together – their characters are very different and very seldom share the screen at the same time, and it is this juxtaposition of worlds and morals that makes this an above-average, interesting tale. And their performances are spot-on. Crowe does the “everyman” role very well indeed – here, he is a man just trying to do his job in an environment that is trying it’s best to tempt him into doing wrong. Washington is also at the top of his game. His baddie roles are often more compelling and this is no exception. Lucas is, in many ways, a very moral man – he believes in family and community and just rewards. But he is also a violent man and his drug business undoubtedly killed many people and ruined countless lives, but somehow this doesn’t register on his moral compass. Despite everything, you like Lucas, even though you shouldn’t. A top-notch performance by Denzel.

The rest of the cast is equally solid. Stand-outs include Ejiofor, as one of Lucas’s brothers, and Brolin, who plays a corrupt special investigator. Nadal, who plays Lucas’s beauty queen wife, is also very good (not to mention exceptionally beautiful).

Although I can’t find a lot to fault in this movie, it doesn’t feel like the absolute stellar film it should be. And I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps because we’ve been told this story a million times (drug lord takes hold of a community, of a city, and a flawed but brilliant cop takes him down). Perhaps it’s a bit long (at nearly 170 minutes), although I don’t remember thinking “what the hell is the point of this scene?” Maybe it didn’t grip me as completely as it should have. I wasn’t bored and I was entertained, but I suspect, by year’s end, I won’t be desperate to add American Gangster to my Top Ten of 2008.

So, yeah, this review seems to have fizzled out somewhat. If gritty cop/drug/corruption stories with moments of brutality are your thing, see this film. You won’t be disappointed, although you might feel that you’ve seen it all before.

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Frank Lucas: The man I worked for had one of the biggest companies in New York City. He didn't own his own company. White man owned it, so they owned him. Nobody owns me, though.