Already being hailed as the black Godfather and the Harlem Scarface, many critics have essentially taken for granted that American Gangster must be judged against the classics of its genre. I was less sure that it couldn’t be judged on its own merits, though, and I feared that stacking it up against The Godfather and other greats would inevitably make it seem disappointing in comparison. Surprisingly, despite its length and its failure to truly innovate, it holds its own among the heavyweights of the gangster film canon and is a contender for the best movie of 2007.
Directed by the acclaimed Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner), American Gangster tells the true story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and his rise to the top of the heroin trade in mid-70s New York City. By smuggling the drug directly from the fields of Vietnam into the U.S., Lucas offers his “Blue Magic” for the lowest price and reaps the benefitsshy;—money, glory and women. Although cop corruption initially allows Lucas to keep his monopoly afloat, an officer from nearby New Jersey, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), eventually sets out to dissolve his empire.
The movie certainly finds inspiration in The Godfather and Scarface, but it does enough to stand out on its own. Most significantly, the film adapts the racial drama of recent critical hits like Crash to the gangster genre, resulting in a mix that is compelling and entertaining despite breaking no new ground arc. In fact, the movie is often predictable, but not to the point of dampening the experience. Washington and Crowe give outstanding performances, each fully inhabiting the lives of their characters, keeping things interesting throughout its ridiculous run time of two hours and forty minutes.
While duration is easily the movie’s most pressing issue, the plot is layered enough to support its length. There are several side stories, including one involving Cuba Gooding Jr. (in his best role since Jerry Maguire), and both Washington’s Lucas and Crowe’s Roberts have their own love sagas that add considerable depth to their characters. Further, Lucas’ entire family becomes more and more involved as the movie progresses, and astute hip-hop fans will enjoy seeing Common, T.I. and RZA play his brothers in their biggest roles yet.
On the whole, though, the film remains intensely focused on its gangster aesthetic, saturating many scenes with extreme violence and drug use. Stylistically, its mood is often dark, and its use of heavy brown and red tones appropriately harkens back to such 70s classics as The French Connection. And as the film progresses, it becomes apparent that Lucas and Roberts are eerily alike. Regardless of profession, both value honesty, integrity and hard work, and their encounters during the last few scenes of the movie are marked by a wonderful chemistry that reflects on both the actors and the characters themselves.
American Gangster is not as groundbreaking as The Godfather, and none of its characters are as quotable as Scarface’s Tony Montana, but it is arguably the best gangster movie since GoodFellas.
