American Gangster

Wow. Here's a movie that took me by surprise. Having seen Denzel Washington in Training Day (which was not a typical role for him) and knowing Russel Crowe was in this movie, i was cautiously optimistic. I'm happy to say that they overcame my apprehensions and i had the honor of viewing a very good quality movie.

At first i was worried that this would be similar to Scarface but that didn't last. Rather than glorify the rise to power of a real-life drug lord i could feel a very strong attempt to downplay the positives. Yes, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) had everything he could possibly want during this time period. At the same time the viewer sees that the fame and fortune comes at a very high price. Seeing the heroine junkies after seeing Frank Lucas strutting around like some kind of high class businessman helped drive home the fact that there are in fact consequences to what he was doing. When he gets caught at the end (it's not like you didn't see THAT coming) i just couldn't feel any sympathy for him. He was a noble character because he took care of his friends and family while proving how much business sense i minority could have during this racially charged time period, and yet you feel that he got exactly what he deserved in the end.

Throughout the movie there were TV clips shown to reflect the status of the Vietnam War which was an interesting touch. Initially this bothered me because it felt very clumsy but in hind site i've realized that this was because the career of Frank Lucas was so deeply intertwined with the conflict. There were some very powerful images relating to both the war and Frank Lucas which i'm sure bothered some people but is old news to me (i'm a history nerd like that). I found myself wondering if the director/writer/whatever was showing these images to make a subtle hint at what might be going on in the two conflicts that the USA is currently involved in.

American Gangster is a bit graphic at times but not nearly as bad as i had initially imagined. Yes, some people get shot. Yes, there is some violence. It's rated R for a reason! Despite that, it really isn't your typical shoot 'em up mob movie. The violence has been toned down to emphasize more on the business realities and the leg work that went on in the pursuit of this character.

I've now seen this movie twice and i have every intention of seeing it again. Just mytwo cents worth on a movie i truly enjoyed....