American Gangster
By Jason Revill
When a Harlem crime boss dies the only person to step into his shoes is his driver and secret protégé Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). Lucas takes control with as little force as possible and a business-like approach. He decides that if he wants to control the city’s heroin he needs to do so by getting the product at the lowest price he can and therefore he needs to go straight to the source, Thailand. Using the American Military, Lucas is able to import and sell the cheapest and best heroine on the street and before long he’s the most powerful man in New York. Meanwhile, on the other side you have straight arrow cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). Roberts is so clean that he found nearly a million dollars in cash and turned it in, making him a pariah within the police force. His reputation however makes him the perfect guy to lead a drug enforcement task force looking to put a halt to local trafficking. As Lucas becomes wealthier and more powerful Roberts is slowly putting together the pieces that will lead him to the source of the most dangerous heroine the city has ever seen.
It would be just a flat out lie if I said that Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe weren’t good in this films, it’s just that they aren’t that great. I feel as though this is sort of a missed opportunity for Washington in that Lucas is a pretty meaty character and instead of going all the way, he plays it fairly safe, giving us a performance that we’ve see before from him. Crowe on the other hand seems slightly miscast. He is pretty good, but at no point do I ever really feel like he’s a Jewish cop from New Jersey. If it wasn’t for his Star of David, the scene where he’s referred to as a racial slur would have made no sense. The few parts of this movie that felt genuine to me were ones that involve Lucas’s family and so some of the minor players such as Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ruby Dee give my favorite performances. I should also point out that Josh Brolin has a hat trick this year with American Gangster. With so much time split between the two stars the audience almost doesn’t get to really enjoy the fine supporting work.
What I don’t understand is it seems at every turn American Gangster has the opportunity to set itself apart from every other film in this genre, but chooses to do the opposite and settle for the ordinary. Why isn’t more made of Frank Lucas’s rise from rural North Carolina, or his Thailand connections? The things that could have made this film different are relegated to being plot points in favor of sticking to the far to familiar streets of New York. We also have things like the good guy-bad guy face off al la Heat, slow motion shots of women in night clubs just before they change a man forever, bad guys in church, family events juxtaposed with the consequences of the villain’s nefarious deeds, henchmen getting burnt out on their own product, voice over montages explaining Lucas’ schemes and of course the obligatory period music. Why go this route when there are more interesting avenues to explore?
It’s not as though American Gangster is a bad film it’s just one we’ve seen time and time again. As a matter of fact it’s been rehashed so many times there are few if any scenes that are innovative or unique. With that said there’s a reason we see movies like this over and over: they are pretty damn entertaining. I can’t say you’re going to have your hair blown back nor do I think Frank Lucas with garner a Tony Montana-like cult following, but with a quality cast you should be able to fit comfortable into American Gangster.
The Grade
- Story: C
- Acting: B
- Visuals: B-
- Originality: C
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: B-
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