American Gangster Doesn’t Disappoint
IT’S NO SCARFACE, GODFATHER OR GOODFELLAS, BUT DENZEL IS DENZEL, PEOPLE
FITSNews – February 23, 2008 – First of all, there isn’t a bad Denzel Washington movie out there. Well, we didn’t particularly care for Out of Time, but other than that the guy is pure box office gold in our book. Not to mention the hottest man alive (editor’s note: sorry, Sic Willie).
Personally, our top five Denzel flics are (in order) Training Day, Fallen, Man on Fire, The Hurricane and Deja Vu, but after picking up American Gangster on DVD last night, it’s only a matter of time before the gritty Ridley Scott-directed crime drama cracks the top five.
In Gangster, Denzel plays New York City drug lord Frank Lucas, who built a heroin empire in the heart of Harlem during the Vietnam War. Using 100% pure herion smuggled out of Thailand (using American military planes and personnel), Lucas was able to amass a fortune selling a drug that was twice as potent and half as expensive as his competitors.
The film chronicles Lucas’ rapid rise and fall, and predictibly, it’s chock full of violence and drug use. Co-starring with Denzel is fellow Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe, who plays Richie Roberts, the detective who ultimately brings the notorious drug lord down (along with dozens of his henchmen and corrupt New York City drug enforcement agents).
At 176 minutes, Gangster is long, but it manages to hold you to your seat (or in our case, sofas) despite some claims that it lacks sufficient action scenes. Its plot is steady, acting superb, cinematography flawless, soundtrack kickin’ and the film doesn’t rely on excessive artistic devices (Ã la Requiem For A Dream) to gloss over the extensive drug use it portrays.
In fact, the movie’s most gripping sequence features graphic images of the tragic impact Lucas’ heroin ring has on New York City’s addicts, spliced together with shots from the aristocratic lifestyle that their misery has purchased for him – all set against the musical backdrop of the old hymn, “A Might Fortress Is Our God.”
Like The Departed, police corruption is also a central theme of the film, and it’s ultimately the link that brings Lucas (the gangster) and Richie (his pursuer) together.
Be sure to check out Gangster this week on DVD for yourself, and tell us what you think … also, feel free to make fun of Sic’s “Denzel man crush.” We do it all the time …
Comments
By Tim on March 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 am
damn good movie. If this is the kind of movie reviews y’all can keep putting out, I expect at least one a week. Your adoring fans are waiting. Besides, you know, with barely any readers, all you have to do is call yourself a reviewer, and you can get into secret early screenings and get to meet celebrities and s#^t.