American Gangster

November 13, 2007

Rated: R Runtime: 157 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You gotta figure that any movie with both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in it would HAVE to be good, right? But while Ridley Scott’s latest movie is certainly good enough to give it a hearty recommendation, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed with what could have / should have been a good bit better.

It’s all about expectations, I suppose. Had this been a movie starring, say, Mario Van Peebles and Don Johnson, I’d be ecstatic about being able to give it 4 stars. With Washington and Crowe, however, you almost have to expect a near perfect effort based on their stellar careers up to this point.

In American Gangster, they give us two very interesting characters: Frank Lucas (Washington), a career sidekick to Harlem crime boss Bumpy Johnson who had previously been known as a quiet and deferential guy but quickly turns that reputation on its ear as he reaches to become the dominant crime figure in all of New York, and Ritchie Roberts (Crowe), a soft-spoken but honest cop whose integrity gets him the choice job of trying to bring down the biggest crime bosses around.

Both characters are extremely interesting and are played out competently, but there is a certain level of depth missing from them. And, too, even though the movie was really quite long, I could have done with more exploration of how Lucas went from Mr. Nobody to Mr. Top Dog without so much as a whimper from his rivals or from the Italian mob figures. Likewise, I would like to have seen more of Roberts’ life and background, too. These areas, and a couple others, were just glossed over and I feel a bit cheated by that.

Additionally, I got the sense that, as good as his performance was, Washington got a bit lazy with regard to making this character truly unique and not just a rehash of previous people he’s played. As a for instance, Washington established Lucas’ trademark phrase as “My man!” Can you think of at least one other movie where he did that? *cough* *cough* *Training Day* *cough*

Another peeve was Crowe’s insistence upon making sure he adopted the REAL LIFE Roberts’ vocal traits and characteristics. That might normally be fine and dandy, but in this case it sucks because Roberts was apparently a mush-mouth mumbler and there were more than a few lines in the movie that I just didn’t catch or didn’t fully understand what was being said.

But enough complaining! Adjust your expectations and be confident that you’re getting your money’s worth as you walk into the theater. Expect a really good movie….just not a great one.

-Alex

Popularity: 19% [?]

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 4 Stars, Carla Gugino, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Denzel Washington, Drama, Josh Brolin, R, Russell Crowe, Theatrical