American Gangster could do for director Ridley Scott what The Departed did for Martin Scorsese last year – earn him his much-deserved Oscar for best director. The British filmmaker has been nominated three times before – for Black Hawk Down, Gladiator and Thelma and Louise – but has yet to hear his name called at the crucial moment.
With its two-and-a-half-hour length, pair of powerhouse leads, and smart script by Schindler’s List screenwriter Steven Zaillian, Scott’s film has “prestige picture” written all over it. And yet for all its strong points, American Gangster doesn’t quite earn a place among the ranks of the great mobster movies like Scarface and The Godfather.
It’s difficult to pinpoint why. Perhaps it’s because there are two stories going on here – the fascinating true tale of crime boss-turned-informant Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and his meteoric rise to dominance over everyone including the Mafia in the 1970s New York City drug trade, and the far less gripping half centred on dedicated cop Richie Roberts’s (Russell Crowe) investigation that will eventually take Lucas down. The scenes with Roberts are a drag on the film, especially when they’re not dealing with his probe into the drug world but his troubled home life and wandering eye.
Lucas is the story, a classic rags-to-riches tale documented in 2000 by writer Mark Jacobson in a New York Magazine article titled “The Return of Superfly.” After an impoverished childhood in the South, he moved to Harlem where mobster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson took him under his wing. When Johnson died in 1968, Lucas took what he’d learned and turned it into an efficient and incredibly profitable business – a drug dealing business, but a business nonetheless.
Flying to Southeast Asia at the time when heroin was taking off in North America, Lucas arranged the import of illicit goods straight from the source – allowing him to sell a product twice as potent for half the cost. He struck a deal with members of the U.S. military to transport the narcotics in the coffins of soldiers being transported back home from the Vietnam War. A distasteful concept to say the least but it made him wealthier than he ever could have imagined – before Roberts caught up with him he was worth millions.
Washington dazzles as Lucas, giving one of the best performances of his career. He plays the drug boss as a man who loves his family and takes care of them, escorting his mother to church every Sunday, but with the capability to do terrible things if the situation calls for it, such as light a man on fire. As Roberts, the more subdued role, Crowe is just as good. He doesn’t get to express as wide a range of emotions as Washington does, but perfectly captures the essence of a man who’s terrible with personal relationships but great at being a cop. He’s the guy who turns in a million bucks because it’s the right thing to do, even though he knows it’s going to get him in trouble with his fellow officers, many of whom are corrupt.
Washington and Crowe in a scene from American Gangster
The supporting cast is excellent, including Josh Brolin as one of said dirty cops and Ruby Dee as Lucas’s mother. Great soundtrack as well, with songs like Bobby Womack’s Across 110th Street, Hold On I’m Coming from Sam and Dave and I’ll Take You There by The Staple Singers. For the Jay-Z track used in the trailer, Heart of the City, you’ll have to look to his 2001 disc The Blueprint. Speaking of Jay-Z, he was apparently so inspired by Washington's performance that he's put out a disc inspired by the film, also titled American Gangster.
There’s an incredible, perfectly-shot scene toward the end of American Gangster and strangely enough it’s also one of the quietest moments in the film. In it, Lucas is leaving church with his wife and mother. We see the impeccably dressed drug lord from behind as he walks outside, and there’s a brief glimpse of a car out in front. Slowly the rest of the vehicle comes into view and the audience sees Roberts leaning against it. In that instant, the jig is up for Lucas and he knows it. The camera pans around to reveal that he’s surrounded by cops ready to take him in. There’s no shouting, in fact there’s next to no dialogue. It’s masterfully done, proof of Scott’s considerable talent as a director.
Unfortunately it also serves as a reminder of what the rest of the film could have been.
Posted by Cate Jones
Agree? Disagree? Email Cate at criticizecate@gmail.com
American Gangster (*** out of 5)
Rated: R
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Steven Zaillian, based on Mark Jacobson article
Related links: Official site, IMDB page, Apple trailer
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