A review by Brooks Rich
I was going to write this up for Friday but I'm not sure it's as forgotten as Fallen and Inside Man. But I want to write about this because this is one of my all time favorite films so I'll just do it as a normal review. I put this right up there with classic mob films like Goodfellas and The Godfather. It's as good as those. Yeah I said it. American Gangster is a masterpiece and some of the strongest performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It is shocking to me this film was shafted at the Academy Awards. Only two nominations, best supporting actress for Ruby Dee, who is terrific in the film, and best art direction. Washington and Crowe were both snubbed as was director Ridley Scott and the film as a whole for best picture. One of the many reasons the Oscars is irrelevant. Films like this are ignored. I love No Country for Old Men, which won best picture that year, but American Gangster is the best film of 2007.
American Gangster tells the story of Frank Lucas, played by Washington, the right hand man to Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson who rises to power after Johnson's death, creating a stranglehold on the heroin market by importing it pure from Vietnam, using the war to cover his tracks. Crowe is Richie Roberts, the only honest cop in a completely corrupt Newark police department, perfectly shown to the audience when Roberts is ostracized for turning in nearly a million dollars he and his partner found. The film is a cat and mouse game between these two characters and these two actors.
The cast in this film is insane. On the Harlem side you have Denzel leading an ensemble that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, RZA, Cuba Gooding Jr., Common, and Idris Elba. The legendary character actor Clarence Williams III plays Bumpy Johnson, having great chemistry with Denzel for the few moments they share together. On the police side Crowe is leading the likes of Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, John Hawkes, and Norman Reedus. That is a spectacular all around ensemble and everyone is acting their assess off. This was the last time Cuba Gooding Jr. was good until his great turn in American Crime Story as OJ Simpson. Idris Elba hadn't broken out yet in the BBC's Luther. Its just one of those casts that gets better with time as the actors all make names for themselves.
Behind the camera we have the legendary Ridley Scott, who to be fair is very hit and miss but when he hits, there's no one better. Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, The Martian, and of course this. Scott is one of the greatest of all time and he is knocking it out of the park here. We're on the streets of Harlem. We feel how unsafe it is for Richie Roberts to be the one honest cop in a sea of corruption. Scott knows exactly what needs to go into an American gangster picture and does so beautifully. I also suspect he knows his '70s blaxploitation because some of the Harlem scenes have tinges of that. The heroin labs seem to be right out of those films with the girls working them fully naked to prevent stealing. The gratuitous nudity has a place in the story unlike some of those blaxploitation films where it was nudity for nudity sakes.
I could go on forever about this film but I'll end it here by saying watch this film if you've never seen it. Watch it if you have and it's been awhile. It's on Netflix now. This is one of the best films of the 2000's, easily in the top ten. Crime films wish they were this good.
Rating: MASTERPIECE
I was going to write this up for Friday but I'm not sure it's as forgotten as Fallen and Inside Man. But I want to write about this because this is one of my all time favorite films so I'll just do it as a normal review. I put this right up there with classic mob films like Goodfellas and The Godfather. It's as good as those. Yeah I said it. American Gangster is a masterpiece and some of the strongest performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It is shocking to me this film was shafted at the Academy Awards. Only two nominations, best supporting actress for Ruby Dee, who is terrific in the film, and best art direction. Washington and Crowe were both snubbed as was director Ridley Scott and the film as a whole for best picture. One of the many reasons the Oscars is irrelevant. Films like this are ignored. I love No Country for Old Men, which won best picture that year, but American Gangster is the best film of 2007.
American Gangster tells the story of Frank Lucas, played by Washington, the right hand man to Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson who rises to power after Johnson's death, creating a stranglehold on the heroin market by importing it pure from Vietnam, using the war to cover his tracks. Crowe is Richie Roberts, the only honest cop in a completely corrupt Newark police department, perfectly shown to the audience when Roberts is ostracized for turning in nearly a million dollars he and his partner found. The film is a cat and mouse game between these two characters and these two actors.
The cast in this film is insane. On the Harlem side you have Denzel leading an ensemble that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, RZA, Cuba Gooding Jr., Common, and Idris Elba. The legendary character actor Clarence Williams III plays Bumpy Johnson, having great chemistry with Denzel for the few moments they share together. On the police side Crowe is leading the likes of Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, John Hawkes, and Norman Reedus. That is a spectacular all around ensemble and everyone is acting their assess off. This was the last time Cuba Gooding Jr. was good until his great turn in American Crime Story as OJ Simpson. Idris Elba hadn't broken out yet in the BBC's Luther. Its just one of those casts that gets better with time as the actors all make names for themselves.
Behind the camera we have the legendary Ridley Scott, who to be fair is very hit and miss but when he hits, there's no one better. Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, The Martian, and of course this. Scott is one of the greatest of all time and he is knocking it out of the park here. We're on the streets of Harlem. We feel how unsafe it is for Richie Roberts to be the one honest cop in a sea of corruption. Scott knows exactly what needs to go into an American gangster picture and does so beautifully. I also suspect he knows his '70s blaxploitation because some of the Harlem scenes have tinges of that. The heroin labs seem to be right out of those films with the girls working them fully naked to prevent stealing. The gratuitous nudity has a place in the story unlike some of those blaxploitation films where it was nudity for nudity sakes.
I could go on forever about this film but I'll end it here by saying watch this film if you've never seen it. Watch it if you have and it's been awhile. It's on Netflix now. This is one of the best films of the 2000's, easily in the top ten. Crime films wish they were this good.
Rating: MASTERPIECE
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