Review of American Gangster (2007) by Alec T — 19 Feb 2012

Odd choice for Ridley Scott to do a crime movie but in the end why the hell not. I don't think this guy can make a bad movie. He's made movies that are not as good but never bad. I mean the worst movies of his are better then a lot of director's best.

This is a good, accurate, gangster drug-trafficking film that makes you think. It lets no one group off; not gangsters of any race or ethnicity, not cops on the take, addicts, etc. And importantly, the story, based upon the true life story of Frank Lucas, does not profile a stereotypical black gangster gone wrong but instead shows an elegant, intellectual man who rises to the top of his game but then learns something new in the end.

The characters do not feel like archetypes or stereotypes, which is a huge danger for any crime film to fall into. A particularly interesting move is that Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington's characters are practically the same because they're exact opposites.

Crowe's detective finds $1 million in unmarked bills in the trunk of a car and returns it. Yet he cheats on his wife. He's an honest cop, yet dishonest in family life. Washington's character, meanwhile, is a criminal.

But he truly loves his wife and his family. He's honest in family matters but dishonest where the law is concerned. The two are shadowy reflections of each other, and this only helps the story even more.

Another way this doesn't fit into the Hollywood mold is that it doesn't end with a giant action scene. Yeah you get a shooting here and there. And a shoot out between the cops and robbers but it's real.

Never over the top. And this isn't the grand finale. Much more comes after that. All in all it's everything great you'd expect from this cast and director.