Movie Review: American Gangster

I would like to start this review by saying liked this movie, even though my review may knock it down a peg or two. The movie is about, a young, african american, criminal, from the south, who learned crime while working for a big time gangster in NY. WHen his boss dies, Frank Lucas (Denzel), sees his opportunity amongst the the power struggle that is beginning with the cities bosses. Frank decides that if he can control the drug trade, he can control the city. He goes to Asia, to directly purchase the drugs in a purer form. By cutting out the middlemen he can sell better heroin for a cheaper price. We also get to follow the one last honest cop in the city Richie (Russell Crowe) as he devotes his life to stopping the drug problem in the city...whew...

OK, that is the quick version of the plot line. Let me tell you first that Denzel has this powerful, confident man thing down to a tee. We have seen a similar character in the award winning Malcolm X. Just like many other gangster movies they try and show different sides of the character but then remind you every 30 minutes or so how ruthless this guy can be. Personally I have seen everyone of these gangster movies and this follows much of the same script. Denzel is very good, just know that this is the Denzel version of Frank Lucas, which is similar to the Denzel version of the cop in Training Day. He just doesnt seem to change with character to character the way say a Tom Hanks can. I am not really faulting him for this because he is good at what he does, I just would like him to me more personable to each role. That is really nitpicking because he is believable in this role, and Russell Crowe is very good as his life is crumbling around him. I cannot tell if I am a big fan of him or not because he usually does movies with Directors I dont really care for like this one with Ridley Scott. He seems to be really good at getting into character and making each his own, which you can tell i like, but I wouldnt consider him one of the best in the biz. Anyways I actually think Scott does a good job in directing this movie. It is a 70s period piece and I thought he gave it a real dark and gloomy look, much like what I feel like NY looked like post Vietnam. I enjoyed the look and feel quite a bit. One thing that really bothered me is besides the two main characters, every other character in the movie seemed to be ignored. When Frank rises to power they show him call his family from the south to come work for him. He gave these brothers and cousins prominent roles in the business and they were even a big part of his demise, yet you learn little about them besides a name. Take Goodfellas or Scarface the two measuring sticks when it comes to Gangster movies in the last 25 years and I think both of these movies do a wonderful job of developing many characters that you really like. The Sopranos did this even better. Scott instead focuses on just pushing ahead with the story and showing random acts of violence, that in the end I dont care if this guy gets killed, or this guy gets busted. He puts the focus on two distinct characters, and I dont think that works as well in this type of movie. Another thing I question is the historical accuracy of this movie. I dont know exactly what is true or what is false, but you get a feeling when you walk out that very little is true, and they kind of twist so nobody gets hurt in the end. Maybe this was just me. I know it seems like I ripped this movie, but I did enjoy it. The overall theme of how the effects on corruption from within the crime circles, to the police department, all the way up the ladder was intriguing. I enjoyed how this movie looked very. Lastly I enjoyed the performances for Crowe and Denzel, I just wish Denzel would do some things to make each of his characters different because they really feel like the same one with his mannurisms and they way he can show a powerful chilling confidence. Go see it but dont expect to be blown away.