American Gangster

I just love films about crime/gangsters. I guess it's an ingredient for instant drama and mystery. Also, there's so much to explore in the criminal world, it's almost impossible to make a dry gangster film. I also love Ridley Scott (well I love his style of film making and I like most of his films), so I was pretty excited to watch American Gangster.

Set in late 60s/early 70s New York, it's an epic film that explores the ambiguity of good vs bad. Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas; a smooth, drug smuggling, Tony Montana-esque ganster that has built an empire on cocaine, partly so that he can share his wealth with his mother and to overcompensate for his poor Southern upbringing. Det. Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is a devoted, honest cop whose followed around by his reputation for turning in a million dollars instead of pocketing it. Crowe's character follows a very tried and tested formula - policeman that's ostracised by his corrupt colleagues and divorced by his wife for being "married to the job". It is a true story, so I guess this can be overlooked.

The story follows Ritchie Roberts' attempts to clean up the city and bring down the people responsible for its mess (including Frank Lucas). It is very compelling and the sets are convincing and gritty, but I don't think it will ever be seen as a classic. It just has a few too many flaws. I wasn't totally convinced by Denzel's gangster. I know it's based on true events and the point is that he's not completely evil, but I still felt he had too many contradictions. He didn't seem ruthless enough to have built such a fortune for himself, nor intimidating enough to be a feared gangster. Another problem I had - although it's a powerful film, for some reason it isn't a memorable film. There weren't any scenes that stayed with me, and I think that's an important aspect of this of this type of film. Despite this, it still manages to be very exciting and it does suck you into its world. It's a very worthy addition to the crime genre.

4 Stars