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Movie Review: American Gangster- not quite the quintessential gangster movie
11/27/07
"American Gangster" is a pretentious name for a movie. I suppose the creators intended the film to be a genre reference point like the Brandenburg concertos are the template for Baroque orchestral music, American Gothic is the basic representation of American rural life, and Renault Le Car is the touchstone of French automotive engineering (just kidding). The ultimate gangster film is still Godfather- nobody will repeat lines from American Gangster five years hence- but AG certainly doesn’t disgrace the field.
AG chronicles the life of Frank Lucas, a crime figure who revolutionized drug distribution as much as Walmart revolutionized retail. A foreshadowing of events makes this connection when Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, Lucas’ boss and mentor, admires the then-novel middleman-less business model of a just-opened discount store. A crime epiphany occurs to Lucas, and he decides to brave the jungles of Cambodia to deal directly with the growers of poppy plants, the heorin of which he then provides to his junky clients. Lucas' wholesale purchases enables him to provide a higher quality product, Blue Magic, for a lower price while eliminating the competition: Win-win, in a manner of speaking. Lucas eventually becomes the most powerful crime figure in New York.
According to Wikipedia, the movie gets the broad outline of of Lucas' life correct (Rudy Giuliani, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, disagrees). In fact, as Peter Suderman points out in his National Review review, Lucas' life was actually more interesting than the movie version. Lucas didn't just visit Southeast Asia as shown in the movie; he fought people- with guns- along the way.
The movie itself is fine. We get a good taste of Denzel's intensity as an actor. He has one of the best stares in cinema. He also has the most effective "pre-death blow" joking repartee. Russell Crowe does a good job as a realistic-looking (slightly-out-of-shape) cop who gives back millions of found drug money, but cheats on his wife. He's not a hypocrite, however: It's just the weakness of an otherwise strong character, his morality on display when he acknowledges his parental unfitness during his divorce hearing, a wonderful scene.
One complaint about AG is that it doesn't lunge for the knockout blow. In fact, it sort of pulls punches. Rivals and policemen underestimate Lucas because of his race, but AG neither dwells on the issue or uses it to make a point about early seventies American culture. Lucas is a commanding character, but the audience doesn't fear him like it should. We also never awe at Lucas' power: Lucas' rise, time at the top, and fall seem rushed. Lucas met Howard Hughes! He would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars today! Perhaps the producers felt that emphasizing one would diminish the whole. Maybe angling AG as a rivalry between Lucas and Roberts left too little movie for the grander themes.
So, the "American gangster" film? No. but a very good movie.
The Godfather: Trilogy 1, 2 & 3
Bach - The Complete Brandenburg Concertos / Pearlman, Boston Baroque
Credits below:
Follow up:
Directed by
Ridley Scott
Writing credits
(WGA)
Steven Zaillian (written by)
Mark Jacobson (article "The Return of Superfly")
Cast (in credits order)
Denzel Washington ... Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe ... Det. Richie Roberts
Chiwetel Ejiofor ... Huey Lucas
Josh Brolin ... Detective Trupo
Lymari Nadal ... Eva
Ted Levine ... Det. Lou Toback
Roger Guenveur Smith ... Nate
John Hawkes ... Det. Freddie Spearman
RZA ... Moses Jones
Yul Vazquez ... Alphonse Abruzzo
Malcolm Goodwin ... Jimmy Zee
Ruby Dee ... Mama Lucas
Ruben Santiago-Hudson ... Doc
Carla Gugino ... Laurie Roberts
Skyler Fortgang ... Michael Roberts
John Ortiz ... Javier J. Rivera
Cuba Gooding Jr. ... Nicky Barnes
Armand Assante ... Dominic Cattano
Kathleen Garrett ... Mrs. Dominic Cattano
Joe Morton ... Charlie Williams
Ritchie Coster ... Joey Sadano
Bari K. Willerford ... Joe Louis
Idris Elba ... Tango
Common ... Turner Lucas
Warner Miller ... Melvin Lucas
Albert Jones ... Terrence Lucas
J. Kyle Manzay ... Dexter Lucas
T.I. ... Stevie Lucas (as Tip Harris)
Melissia Hill ... Redtop
Quisha Saunders ... Darlynn
Kevin Corrigan ... Campizi
Robert Funaro ... McCann
Jon Polito ... Rossi
Tom O'Rourke ... Banker
Robert C. Kirk ... Police Captain
Tom Stearns ... 2-Star General
KaDee Strickland ... Richie's Attorney
Jon DeVries ... Judge James Racine
Jim R. Coleman ... Bailiff
Lee Shepard ... Laurie's Attorney
Gavin Grazer ... Mike Sobota
Linda Powell ... Social Worker
Roxanne Amandez ... Paramedic
Norman Reedus ... Detective Norman Reilly
Pierra Francesca ... Stewardess
Eddie Rouse ... Detective at Party
Maryann Urbano ... Real Estate Broker
Cedric Sanders ... Serviceman in Cafe #1
Jason Veasey ... Serviceman in Cafe #2
Roosevelt Davis ... Army Captain
Roger Bart ... U.S. Attorney
Eric Silver ... White Kid
Mitchell Green ... Tango's Bodyguard
Saycon Sengbloh ... Tango's Woman
Conor Romero ... Tough Teenager #1
Daniel Hilt ... Tough Teenager #2
Daniel Farcher ... Tough Teenager #3
David Spearman ... Civilian Cleaning Staff #1
Maurice Ballard ... Civilian Cleaning Staff #2
Paul Doherty ... TV Newscaster
William C. Tate ... Baptist Minister
George Lee Miles ... Frank's Lawyer
Jason Furlani ... Bailiff
Chris McKinney ... Reporter on TV
Ric Young ... Chinese General
David Wayne Britton ... Army Colonel
Tommy Guiffre ... Medical Examiner
Laurence Lowry ... Paramedic
Dan Moran ... Army Captain
Marjorie Johnson ... Charlene
Larry Mitchell ... FBI Agent
Chuck Cooper ... Private Doctor
Kevin Geer ... Law School Professor
Chance Kelly ... MP
Hamilton Clancy ... Seller
Sam Freed ... Judge
Joey Klein ... Chemist
Scott Dillin ... 4th Amigo
Anthony Hamilton ... Funk Band Singer
Sarah Hudnut ... Assistant Prosecutor
Jeff Greene ... Metal Door Worker
Tyson Hall ... Drug Dealer #1
Kirt Harding ... Drug Dealer #2
Bryant Pearson ... Drug Dealer #3
Al Santos ... Mechanic (as Alfredo Luis Santos)
William Hudson ... Dealer #1
Christopher A. Sawyer ... Dealer #2
Dylan Gallagher ... Casket Loader
Jehan-Pierre Vassau ... Narc Officer #1
Dawn Douglas ... Narc Officer #2 (as Dawn A. Douglas)
Robbie Neigeborn ... Cop in Narc Headquarters
Clinton Lowe ... Man Arrested in Elevator
Wilhelm Lewis ... Head Wedding Photographer
James Hunter ... Deacon #1
Neville White ... Deacon #2
Lonnie Gaetano ... Prison Guard
Jeff Mantel ... Officer Walsh
Serena Joan Springle ... The Proctor
Ron Piretti ... Judge
Nino Del Buono ... Announcer
Arthur Mercante ... Referee (as Arthur M. Mercante)
Panama Redd ... Policeman
Robert Wiggins ... Piano Player
Fab 5 Freddy ... Smalls Patron
Jonah Denizard ... Store Manager
Steve McAuliff ... Mounted Policeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph Ferrante ... Gangster at Funeral (uncredited)
Jerrod Paige ... Muhammad Ali (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?
Produced by
Michael Costigan .... executive producer
Jonathan Filley .... co-producer
Brian Grazer .... producer
Branko Lustig .... executive producer
Nicholas Pileggi .... executive producer
Ridley Scott .... producer
Kehela Sherwood .... executive producer
James Whitaker .... executive producer
Steven Zaillian .... executive producer
), 09:25:10 pm, 1027 words PermalinkCategories: Now playing at a theater near you :: 3 comments »
3 comments
American Gangster reminded me yet again what a versatile actor Russel Crowe is… plus it's pretty clever how Ridley Scott makes viewers love the bad guy and dislike the good guy only to turn that around by the end of the movie. 
The movie just present another perspective and it was probably meant to be a more psychological movie than a gangster movie. If you follow the story, you can clearly see that the main purpose of the movie is to underline the inner life of the "hero". 
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