American Gangster review

"American Gangster" is one of the best movies of the year. That being said, while I liked the movie a LOT, I didn't love it.

It's certainly not the fault of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe or director Ridley Scott, who are all in top form.

The film tells the story of Frank Lucas (Washington), who in the 1970's built a major heroin empire in Harlem. We also get the story of Richie Roberts, the New Jersey cop trying to bring him down.

In fact, for most of the movies 157 minutes, it's almost like we're watching two separate, but equally interesting movies, with Denzel starring in the story of a man building a drug empire and Russell Crowe starring in a 70's style movie about an honest cop dealing with his corrupt colleagues.

Kudos to the director for making each of these segments equally compelling, but Crowe deserves special mention for making his half of the story more interesting. All of the long, tedious police work Roberts has to do could've been a major snooze if it had been handled by a different actor.

Since their last collaboration was nothing to write home about, it's great to see Washington and Crowe in the same film and even better when they eventually come face to face. I already talked about Crowe, but Washington is also fantastic and Oscar-worthy as Lucas. The way he plays Lucas, in control of his body, words and everything else, makes his surprising eruptions of violence effective, believable and scary. He even makes the phrase "my man" mean about 5 different things.

Unfortunately, that means that, with few exceptions, there isn't that much to do for the rest of the incredibly talented cast, which is filled with people you've seen in other movies. Among the standouts are the great Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Inside Man") as one of Lucas' brothers, Josh Brolin (who ALWAYS just looks sleazy) as a, you guessed it, sleazy New York cop, Yul Vazquez, as Richie's partner, and Clarence Williams III, making a strong impression early on as Lucas' mentor.

Mostly though, the fine cast doesn't have very much to do and only get a scene or two to make an impression. Cuba Gooding Jr. was good as the flashier drug boss Nicky Barnes, but only got one scene to shine. Ditto for Ruby Dee as Lucas' mom. Speaking of mom, my mom shined when, after one character shot a dog in cold blood, she said "Ok, Michael Vick." But I digress.

Also, as is the case for many of these tough guy films, the women don't get very much to do. Dee does what she can with her limited screen time, and Carla Gugino as Richie's wife gets one good scene, but other than that, women are a non-entity, which is especially disappointing in the case of Frank's wife Eva (Lymari Nadal), Ms. Puerto Rico. I mean, I know the story's about Frank and Richie, but give her SOMETHING to do. I mean, I know the character's supposed to be kind of a wet blanket, but even Michelle Pfeiffer had something to do in "Scarface", as did Diane Keaton in "The Godfather" movies.

That's the thing about this movie. It kinda felt like it was trying to be the next "Scarface" or "Godfather" instead of just naturally becoming that over time. I mean, that's a great goal to have, but in the end, the strain to be that sorta showed. Still, this is one of the best movies of the year, and I think we'll probably be hearing from it come awards time.

American Gangster...A-