American Gangster: Unrated Directorâs Cut
In bringing to the screen the story of Frank Lucas (whose real-life exploits obviously inspired many fictional crime movies over the years), the 1970s drug kingpin of New York who made hundreds of millions selling heroin imported straight from southeast Asia (in the midst of Vietnam), director Ridley Scott puts his storytelling gifts to their full usage here, putting up a near three hour film that never drags or causes a loss of interest. As Lucas, Denzel Washington does solid work here, never imbuing the character with false nobility but making him a full-fledged human being who loved and cherished his family, but was equally ruthless when dealing with his enemies who oppose him. Starting out by showing his early days learning at the side of Harlem ganglord Bumpy Johnson (played by Clarence Williams III in a character who had his own movie about his life in Hoodlum with Laurence Fishburne), Scott meticulously shows how Lucas figures out the best way to make the money in the drug trade is to cut out the middleman, going straight to Vietnam and negotiating with the general who manufactures it, and then using U.S. military cargo planes to bring the product back to the states, knowing that selling junk that is twice as pure but costs half as much will make a killing for him in the market; As Richie Roberts, the cop who leads the investigation to bring Lucas down, Russell Crowe is also very good, as usual, though the character is too obviously a composite of several real people as Roberts goes from busting Lucas for trafficking to prosecuting him at his trial to eventually becoming his friend and defense attorney(!), thus hurting the credibility of the story in some ways. In other roles, Josh Brolin does some of his best work as the asshole corrupt cop looking for his piece of the action; Lymari Nadal is angelic as Lucasâ beautiful Puerto Rican wife; Ted âBuffalo Billâ Levine gets good mileage as Robertsâ captain who backs him through thick and thin; Ruby Dee (in a role that was oddly Oscar nominated) has one good powerful scene as Lucasâ mother, even if Ridley seems to be rushing through it; Cuba Gooding Jr. likewise is barely touched upon as Lucasâ rival, and it seems like his part of the story goes mostly unresolved; and Armand Assante does his best Brando impersonation as the mafia boss who partners with Lucas for nationwide distribution. Ridley seems to have cast an unusually large number of rap stars in supporting roles, including RZA and Common, and mostly they just fade into the background woodwork. On the other hand, Ridley does an excellent job of taking us back into the early 70s, utilizing a fine soundtrack selection of songs and even providing cameos for impersonators of such celebs as Joe Louis, Wilt Chamberlain, and Sammy Davis Jr., all while doing a fascinating reenactment of the Ali-Frazier fight at MSG (where Lucas first drew suspicion by sitting at ringside and wearing a flamboyant outfit). Whenâs all said and done though, the film seems to lack that âbig momentâ, that emotional high point where everything coalesces to drive the brunt of the story home, but overall, the technical beauty of Ridleyâs directing ensures that the last thing any viewer will be able to say is that theyâre boredâŚ
8/10