Alecc B. on "American Gangster"

It's been a very long time since we've seen a great gangster film. Road To Perdition was a classy mobster-flick, but I'm talking about the grimy, tough guy, extremely violent-type gangster film. No, The Departed doesn't count because it was more about dirty cops than anything.

To my recollection, the last hard-nosed gangster flick was Casino. My memory is pretty bad, but that's what comes to mind. That film came out 12 years ago.

Now, in 2007, we have American Gangster. Judging by the trailers, this flick had everything working for it. Ridley Scott was behind the camera while powerhouse actors like Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe were in front. This was going to be a triumphant return for this genre. Instead, we are given a good movie, but not great like it was supposed to be.

PLOT

Frank Lucas was the loyal henchman to one of the top crime bosses in Harlem, circa late 1960's, until that boss died. Frank decided this was his chance to shine, so he constructed a plan that essentially put him and his entire family at the top of the drug business, even above the mafia.

Richie Roberts is a ridiculously honest cop that has a penchant for sleeping around. Is that really a bad thing? Either way, while his personal life falls apart, he doesn't really care because all that's on his mind is bringing down whoever is responsible for all this silly dope business.

ACTING

Okay, I've said it before and I'll say it again, Denzel Washington plays the same guy in every movie. He brings absolutely nothing new to each film. None of that matters though, because Washington is always a joy to watch. You know what to expect and he doesn't disappoint here as Frank. Russell Crowe, as Richie, is more into becoming the character. He piled on some pasta for this flick and puts on a satisfactory New York accent. Crowe is another actor you can always depend on to bring the goods. Filling out Frank's family business is Chiwetel Ejiofor, Common, and T.I.. They're all decent in their roles. Ruby Dee plays Mama Lucas. It was great to see her again, but it seemed like she was struggling with her dialogue a good chunk of the movie. Josh Brolin plays a dirty cop that goes by the name of Trupo. Brolin is great and you will truly dislike his character. Carla "sweet ass" Gugino shows up as Richie's ex-wife Laurie. She's only in a couple of scenes but she does well in both. Two other actors showed up and put a smile on my face, but not in a good way. Those guys are Cuba Gooding Jr. and Armand Assante. I just can't take either of them seriously, and that hurts the scenes that they're in. Other familiar faces show up, but I'll let you spot them on your own.

WRITING & DIRECTING

Steven Zaillian brought his writing skills to the table for American Gangster. The first half of the story kind of felt all over the place for me. But once Frank started building his business, the story started to come together. The police investigation aspect was handled very well. I liked Frank's side of the story, but one thing I had a problem with was his family. See, when Frank started setting things up, he calls up his family, who are living pretty poorly at the moment, but they look like good people. Their turnaround is too sudden for me. They witness Frank kill somebody in public and seem genuinely shocked, but then the next time you see them they're comfortable being gangsters. I didn't buy their transition.

The story of Frank Lucas is interesting. I've never heard of him before, but he sounds like a smart guy. The way he gets his heroin into the country from Vietnam is brilliant and terrible at the same time.

Ridley Scott is one the best old school directors still doing his thing amongst all the younger guys trying to take over the film business. Antoine Fuqua was the original director on board for Gangster, but the budget was getting too high so he dropped out. Scott stepped in and shot this flick for the same budget Fuqua had presented. That's Hollywood for you.

Gangster has a good look to it. It's almost shot like a film back in the 70's, just with a little more polish. The biggest problem here is the pacing in the first hour. Besides the fact that the story jumped around a lot, the actual scenes themselves moved really slow during that first half.

The best scene involves a sit-down between Washington and Crowe. Watching these two reminded me of the scene in Heat when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sit at the diner and just talk. It's always a pleasure to see actors that are so good at their craft just work off of each other.

The soundtrack was fantastic too. Try not to bob your head and sing along to "Across 110th Street" when it starts playing.

I was hoping that American Gangster would join the ranks of Goodfellas, Carlito's Way, and the overrated ("YEAH, I SAID IT!") Scarface. While it is refreshing to see a big-budget mobster-flick like American Gangster make it to the big screen, I was still a tad disappointed with the final product.

Overall Review: **1/2 stars

Best Lines:

Washington: I'm paying you by the hour, not the minute.

Crowe: You know what we do here? Cops arrest bad guys.