Quick Review: American Gangster

The first time I laid eyes on the trailer for this flick, I was in love. Denzel, Russell, and Ridley Scott collaborating to tell the true story of crime boss Frank Lucas sounded like gold…Oscar gold. I’m distressed to report however that the results fall far short of the hype I and others had created around the film. American Gangster is a fine movie and that’s about the biggest praise I can give it. A tale this grandiose needs time to tell its story and while the film already runs at over two and a half hours, it feels as if it has chopped out too much story in favor of pleasing lazy audiences. Nowhere is this more evident then in the swift final 30 minutes of the film. The downfall and wrap up of Washington’s Lucas ends up playing like the last 5 minutes of an episode of Law and Order where all the pieces snap into place. The biggest mistake here is that it appears director Ridley Scott got caught up in the hype of Crowe and Washington and forgot that this is truly an amazing story that deserves to be seen and not recapped with titles. Of course I can see how Ridley could get caught up in that hype as Crowe and Washington both dazzle. I especially appreciated the dichotomy of Crowe’s portrayal of a good cop who’s not necessarily a good person and Washington’s portrayal of an evil criminal who might be a good person underneath. While the two share very little screen time I must admit I didn’t feel cheated by that as each actor carries their own half of the film in majestic fashion. Add in Chiwetel Ejiofor who after great turns in Children of Men, Serenity and Inside Man once again provides another award worthy supporting performance and a surprisingly good performance by Josh Brolin and you’ve got an acting tour de force. In the end though the acting wasn’t enough to fully satisfy me and the film just left me wanting more.