It would be easy to sit here and write out this long, elaborate diatribe of how good American Gangster really is but none of it would serve the movie its just due. It’s rare that a movie with so much promise delivers scene after scene and coming in at an approximate run time of 2 hrs and 37 min, every scene is concise in its efforts to draw audiences into what all is going on between/around all these characters. Even from its opening scene, American Gangster pulls you in and unlike every other mafia kingpin story, the film remains raw from beginning to end.
First things first though, American Gangster is based on a true story and tells the tale of Harlem heroin kingpin, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). Uninspired by conventional methods of drug trafficking, Lucas aspires to cut out the middle man by smuggling it into the states via American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. While pragmatic in establishing what he hopes to accomplish, Lucas embodies the reality around him and relishes the notion of controlling everything he puts his hands on. Make no mistake, Lucas is his own boss and, in some ways, his own worst enemy but the dividing line between the two are not even close. The same could be said for Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), a detective who works off of merit alone, who in spite of the fact that he’s seemingly caught in the middle of a paradox, is working to bring Lucas and all he represents down.
Respectively, Lucas and Roberts are the antagonist and protagonist characters of this gritty, uncut story and the way Washington and Crowe are able to bring life to these characters is simply amazing. The performances of both actors make the film work in so many ways but the essence of the film lies in its fluidity. Ridley Scott masterfully paces the film throughout and the payoff is the moment Lucas and Roberts come face to face. By far it is one of the best scenes in the movie and although it comes off as simple, it exemplifies the conflict both characters had been trying to overcome throughout.
Without question, American Gangster deserves the praise it is getting from critics and movie goers alike and will be sure to become a new American classic. Whether or not it belongs among such names as Scarface, The Godfather, and things of that nature remain to be seen but at its purest, American Gangster is the antithesis of what we all strive for in the American dream. Life, love, and the pursuit of happiness…all by any means necessary.
American Gangster is rated R for violence, pervasive drug content and language, nudity, and sexuality.
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