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American
Gangster
(2007)
American Gangster is far from the first
film to present a criminal antihero as protagonist, but it
offers very little
that hasn't been done before, and fails to overcome the persistent
hurdle facing the genre. While the technical and artistic
aspects of the film are first rate, its lack of originality
and moral throughline make it too difficult to really enjoy.
In 1970s New York, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington)
built the first non-Mafia crime syndicate run by an African
American through an ingenius scheme to import cocaine from
Southeast Asia without a middle-man. To counteract the
sudden influx of high-grade, low-cost drugs in the New York
area, New Jersey narcotics cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe)
leads an investigation of Lucas' organization which puts him
in direct conflict with corrupt New York detective Trupo (Josh
Brolin).
This isn't the first time a criminal
has been portrayed in a somewhat positive light in a film in
which we're supposed to sympathize with them. It worked in
The Godfather because there was a clear moral
justification for the Corleones' actions (family). It
even worked in Scorsese's many crime epics, which served more
as cautionary tales than glorification of organized crime. But American
Gangster isn't like either of these. I'll be honest
here; I just can't get myself to sympathize with drug dealers. Scarface didn't
do it for me, nor did Blow, New Jack City or
any of the other coke-vendor flicks. It's obvious that
one is supposed to like Lucas and feel for him, if only for
being the first black man to run a crime family of this size
and success level, but it doesn't work. At all. No matter
how many turkeys Frank and his brothers throw off the back of a truck for
Thanksgiving, I just can't get over how many crackheads they're creating by selling drugs. I don't buy the "helping Harlem" line one bit.
Luckily the film presents us a second protagonist in the form of Crowe's character. I found myself wishing he were the center of the film, as I actually liked his character and saw enough complexity to his personality to justify an entire film revolving around him. Unfortunately, he plays second fiddle to Denzel the entire movie, and as much as one might side with him while watching the film, we're simply not presented enough of him to make up for the unlikeability of Denzel's Lucas. If this were Heat for example, the basic fact that the audience is treated to confrontations between two powerhouses like Washington and Crowe should be enough to maintain interest and carry the film, but the two are on screen together only briefly, and it's nowhere near satisfying enough to make up for their parallel storylines throughout the rest of the film.
It's a real shame, too, that the performances of both leads weren't put to better
use. Not only do Crowe and Washington deliver stellar portrayals, but the supporting
cast never struggles to keep up. Scott's direction, Harris Savides' dark, brooding
cinematography, and Pietro Scalia's masterful editing are all among the best
of each of their impressive careers, yet all the elements don't come together
in a way that makes for a good film. Perhaps it's that the screenplay by
Steven Zaillian is mediocre at best and fails to create a framework that allows
the various collaborators' work to shine.
In all, American Gangster is just another run-of-the-mill crime drama
that can't rise above the temptation to glorify the criminal. If it weren't
for the excellent work of nearly every technical or creative party involved in
the film, I'd say it's bound for obscurity once people forget about it. I'm
certainly going to forget the film fairly soon if I'm lucky, though I'm sure
I'll remember the contributions of many of the creative collaborators. Despite
what you may have heard, American Gangster is anything but a must-see.
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All contents ©
2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Ridley
Scott
Writer: Steven
Zaillian, Mark Jacobson
Starring: Denzel
Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari
Nadal, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Distributor: Universal
Pictures
Runtime: 157
min
Rating: R
Release Date: November
2, 2007
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