For some reason, filmmakers think there’s something gratifying about the idea of a really bad guy dragging on years of investigation, getting caught, and starting their sentence hugging and kissing the cops whispering sweet nothings that sound a lot like names and addresses in their ears so everyone can live happily ever after and prance around the forest with the deer and the bunnies singing tra-la-la. This is the second time this has happened in the box (Catch Me if you Can being the first) and what sucks is I can’t say it’s just lazy writing because they have both been based off of true stories, but if you’re going to end on the note of “and the criminal cooperated with the police and life was good,” perhaps spend a little more time focusing on that instead of throwing it in as some afterthought because then it’s just a lot of masturbation with a weak, dribbling climax. Personally, my favorite application of this concept was in Lord of War where Nicolas Cage’s “bedside manner” made him look MORE like a bad guy instead of absolved him of his crimes. I have yet to see this done well with a TRUE story, and American Gangster fails to deliver as well, but continues to send the message “if you’re going to be a bad guy, be the worst you possibly can because that’s how you get off easy.”
OK, that’s enough of me bitching about the ending, all in all American Gangster was a pretty decent watch focusing on the rise and fall* (see paragraph above) of a crime lord from lowly driver to one of the most successful dope dealers in the 1960’s and 70’s, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). Taking an interesting approach to business by going directly to the source of his product and ordering from there, he manipulates the markets, providing heroin that’s twice as potent and half as expensive as the competition, and makes a killing for it. Naturally, this puts him in hot water with the competition, but with the money to bribe them into staying back, Mr. Lucas becomes practically untouchable.
Now, chasing after him…eventually…is Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) who is loathed by his fellow officers for being such a fucking boy scout but never really has to own up to that, instead we get to spend time dealing with his law degree and his failed marriage and a custody battle that doesn’t mean shit. There’s just a lot of filler footage for a story that could have been either more in depth on more important things (again, see first paragraph) or just been shorter (‘cause I’m tired of two and a half hour movies). He’s not crafty or intelligent, he’s just honest, and that appears to be enough to carry him through this. He’s a fucking boring cop, but we respect him because he’s the only one of his kind.
Really, American Gangster seems to want to be about both of their stories but provides no real cat and mouse for us to enjoy while we traverse through the journey of their lives. Basically it is about how Frank became a big enough mouse worth catching and how Richie got in the position to discover there was even a mouse in the room. Then the cat just wins…then the two make up and start fucking with the dog but you don’t get to see that, the credits start rolling with this modern hip hop “fuck-a-nigga-up” bullshit that didn’t actually work, kind of like how I bitched that Gods and Generals ended with a Western ballad. Music is a character too…come on guys.
Oh well, despite that it wasn’t engaging or inspiring or really all that smart, it was entertaining and interesting enough to keep me watching. Frank’s rise to power is riveting and watching him respond to the reality of the cliché’s around him is almost humorous, though it’s not meant to be, but I guess I connect with that because I felt the same way during college (I went to art school in Denver…responding the reality of the cliché’s around me was always fun…any mildly offensive).
Given that, I’m giving this a 7 dustbusters out of 10. Nothing pissed me off, but this really just was a bit of a boring, uncreative film that maybe should have stayed focused on the task at hand.
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