//A scene from American Gangster | Photo Credit: Yahoo! Movies
American Gangster is the epic tale of 1970’s Harlem heroin tycoon Frank Lucas who is notoriously remembered for smuggling dope into the coffins of dead Vietnam vets and supplying New York City with a pure form of heroin he dubbed “Blue Magic.”
Denzel Washington plays the ruthless, yet sophisticated Lucas in an Oscar-worthy performance. Washington who took home the prize for his role as a corrupt L.A. cop in 2001’s Training Day, doesn’t disappoint. He channels the soul of a man who thought of himself not as a criminal, but rather a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, who’s “Blue Magic” is to heroin, what Pepsi is to soft drinks.
Washington’s remarkable performance sets the bar high and his fellow actors and are up to the challenge. A shaggy Russell Crowe portrays too honest for his own good detective Richie Roberts. Crowe is solid, but I feel the role for an actor of Crowe caliber doesn’t really challenge him professionally.
Ruby Dee will win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as the Lucas matriarch and Clarence Williams III is brilliant albeit briefly as Lucas mentor/father figure Bumpy Johnson.
The real surprise of the film is the performance of Josh Brolin. Brolin’s turn as crooked investigator Trupo almost manages to out-gangster Denzel’s Lucas. He’s a scene stealer.
Cuba Gooding, Jr is back to form as rival drug czar Nicky Barnes. Cuba’s been slumming for the past ten years, evidenced by recently “riding Michael Jordan’s jock” (literally) in those Hanes Underwear commercials. I am glad to see he decided to give acting another shot.
The movie itself fails to capitalize on the strong performances by its actors. First of all the movie limps in at an exhausting 157 minutes, much of this time is devoted to the developing of Crowe’s Roberts character. Roberts failed marriage, subsequent custody hearings and constant philandering plays like a melodrama that should have been left on the cutting room floor.
I would like to remind the producers that the film is titled American Gangster; it could have easily been titled American Boy Scout with all the attention paid to Detective Roberts’ integrity.
The Oscar hype surrounding this movie is unfounded, there is Academy worthy performances, but I don’t know if the films early buzz was based on the movie or was it more of a testament to what an awful year 2007 was for movies.
Denzel’s Frank Lucas deserves all the praise he is receiving, when he’s on screen you take notice, whether it’s shooting a man in the head in broad daylight or smacking a family member around, he’s a force. This is an iconic film character, it belongs in the same category with the Scarface’s and Don Corleone’s but the script and plot lines don’t add anything to Washington depiction and I feel one of Hollywood’s more memorable performances will be lost on this subpar film.
Director Ridley Scott does however do a masterful job at scouting locations and you really get a feel for what it was like in 1970’s Harlem. The soundtrack and wardrobe give off a “blaxploitation” film vibe and Scott’s Harlem is a gritty urban landscape where gangsters ruled the streets.
But, the hype surrounding this film probably ruined it for me. I was expecting a classic on the level with The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Menace II Society. What I got was a film that wasn’t even on par with New Jack City.
