Movie Review

American Gangster

More than ten years after their landmark teaming in the film "Virtuosity," Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are finally back together. Washington plays drug kingpin and true-life crime boss Frank Lucas and Crowe plays Richie Roberts, the narcotics cop who desperately tries to take him down. Lucas came to power by rising through the ranks of one of Harlem’s leading black crime families, using ingenuity and a strict business plan to flood the streets with a better product at a lower price. Beating out all other crime families, he becomes both the city’s most corruptible force and civic hero. Meanwhile, Roberts suspects a shift in power and has his eye squarely on Lucas. Both men are independents with a drive unlike no other, but both soon discover that they are approaching a confrontation where only one can win.

"American Gangster" is all about two Oscar winners and a huge name director so you would expect a little something of a classic here. Though oddly enough, the movie comes off as being a meager effort at best. The characters are paper-thin, some barely needing to be in the movie at all. Lucas presents some interest. This is a guy who went all the way to Vietnam in order to bring back the best product for the lowest price. Only as the movie wears on, Lucas starts to feel like every other guy who got rich off of the suffering of others. I get that he's supposed to be this vicious gangster but I would still expect some humanity from the guy, something that makes him movie-worthy. Scarface had a dream, he had conflict and flaws to him. Lucas is written as a mobster just going through the motions. Richie Roberts is even worse. All we're permitted to know about this character is that he's a straight-laced boy scout. Other than that he really doesn't become a crucial part of the movie until the last half hour. He's there because the movie needs a hero but he's boring and the movie should really be Frank Lucas' show, not split between the two.

Washington and Crowe give it their best shot though. Washington plays the role with strong-fisted authority and Crowe at times makes Roberts gritty and compelling. Ridley Scott also stages some nice shootouts and everything looks pretty stylized and cool. Just the characters feel a little light, the supporting players especially. Cuba Gooding Jr., Joe Morton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, and Ruby Dee, just to name a few big name character actors, make little more than cameo appearances here before they are quickly hurried off screen. "American Gangster" is two and a half hours long and for the most part it seems like that has less to do with plotting and developing the characters and more to do with just stuffing well known actors into roles that really aren't that juicy.

Had the filmmakers decided to take out a few of them and concentrate more on the personalities, this movie could have been way more memorable. Just as it is, I think it's a pretty big letdown. But hey, at least it's a little better than "Virtuosity."

Craig's Grade: C+

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%