Published on 11/12/2007
Starring
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, There has to be a
reason why director Ridley Scott's "American Gangster," an otherwise
intelligent, gripping biopic about heroin kingpin Frank Lucas, runs a
knee-jiggling, obsessive watch-checking 160 minutes.Perhaps Scott,
himself never one to use one scene where five will do, contracted a
nasty case of the Peter Jackson Syndrome.
Maybe he blew the film's
entire budget on hiring A-list talent and couldn't afford to pay a
decent film editor. Or maybe, just maybe, he looked back to his
"Gladiator" days and concluded that more is more, and more is always,
ahem, Oscar-bait.Whatever the reason, "American Gangster" is
overstuffed (with characters, plots, subplots, etc.) almost to its
bursting point. Lucky for viewers, though, top-notch performances save
"Gangster" from seeming more tedious than the rush of History Channel
specials.
Washington (who else?) portrays Lucas, a real-life
entrepreneur who monopolized the Harlem heroin trade in the 1970s by
cutting prices, eliminating "go-to" middlemen, increasing product
quality, overpaying his workers and keeping a low, quiet profile.
Still, Lucas eventually catches the eye of Richie Roberts (Crowe), a
hard-boiled police detective determined to end Lucas's reign.Subplots
(including a custody battle that's grossly out of place) and characters
bleed together in "Gangster," but a talented few stand out. Cuba
Gooding Jr. gets a cameo as an unpredictable, coked-out club owner, and
Josh Brolin is appropriately menacing as corrupt Detective Trupo. The
always-talented Ejiofor is believable as Lucas's brother, who sells his
soul for a sliver of the empire.But this is Washington and Crowe's
show, and they do not disappoint.
Washington is dynamite as Lucas he
finds the right tone early on and never missteps. His Lucas is a
shrewd, calculating businessman who can pump a rival full of bullets
and still escort his mother (Ruby Dee) to church every Sunday. Crowe,
looking more haggard than ever, is just the opposite Roberts is a man
whose marriage and life are in shambles.
He's got nothing left except
his ideals, and he grips onto them like a hand grenade. Charting the
rise and fall of each man makes the film (almost) great.Of course,
there's one thing that could have made it better. Director Scott, say
it with me now: "editing."
Grade: B-
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