American Gangster Review

 

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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