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American Gangster (2007)

Director:
Ridley Scott
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Crime/Drama
NORWEGIAN TITLE
American Gangster
RUNNING TIME
157 minutes
Producer:
Brian Grazer
Ridley Scott
Screenwriter:
Woody Allen


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Frank Lucas Denzel Washington
Det. Richie Roberts Russell Crowe ½
Detective Trupo Josh Brolin
Eva Lumari Nadal
Det. Lou Toback Ted Levine ½
Det. Freddie Spearman John Hawkes ½
Mama Lucas Ruby Dee
Nicky Barnes Cuba Gooding Jr. ½
Dominic Cattano Armand Assante
Moses Jones RZA
Alphonze Abruzzo Yul Vazquez
Charlie Williams Joe Morton
Bumby Johnson Clarence Williams III

 

Review

As a portrait of the moods and mechanisms of the big city mob, American Gangster treads familiar territory. This is one of the reasons why we struggle to maintain interest through every connection and associate of Frank Lucas' in this intriguing and interesting, but somewhat ill-proportioned film by Ridley Scott. In magnitude and weight, American Gangster is a typical Scott picture, with strong personalities battling it out in cynical environments. The story of Frank Lucas has many interesting aspects, such as the unlikeliness of him building his cartel in the middle of the Sicilian mob's territory, his extremely effective no-nonsense all-business methods, or the fact the he was (arguably) the first black organized crime boss of this magnitude. However, what is not particularly interesting is the man's rather dull personality. The same can largely be said about his adversary, Detective Richie Roberts (played standoffishly by Russell Crowe), who was one of few non-corrupt police officers in New York in the 1970s. One of Ridley Scott's mistakes is that he dwells to much on the other aspects of his two protagonists' life, such as the uninspired love story between Lucas and Eva, or the customary "cop has no time for his kid" séance that I suspect applied to 98% of every divorced cop in the 1970s.

The continuously interesting but rarely remarkable American Gangster has some very powerful sequences scattered around its lengthy running time. One is the technicalities of the narcotics and the smuggling, in which Lucas diverged from the average dope dealer. Another is the relation between Lucas and his mother, played by the magnificent Ruby Dee, and culminating with a fantastic scene after the matriarch feels her son has gone too far. Dee's compelling acting provides the film's emotional zenith. There is also quality in the verbal and tactical combat between Lucas and Roberts towards the end. It shows how two opponents remain utterly professional even after a potentially fatal shootout. Their mutual respect and selfishness is an interesting portrait of how two people operating on different sides of the law not necessarily are basically different. What they have in common is that the sympathy they have for the victims of crime is only nominal - both hardened by the brutal urban life they were a product of.

Copyright © 17.2.2008 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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