American Gangster Review
After seeing the star-stuffed lineup for American Gangster — Denzel Washington, Russel Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, T.I., RZA, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., Idris Elba, etc — I walked into last night’s press screening expecting a typical blaxploitation flick. Boy, was I wrong or what?
American Gangster, which opens to the public today, is one of those movies in which there’s less emphasis on reaching a climactic ending (for that, you can always pick up the phone and call Frank Lucas or read up on his life) and more on giving a compelling depiction of the real-life characters. Yet you find yourself going along for the ride, eager to find out exactly how Lucas will pay for his vicious crimes.
The film is based on the life of 1970s Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, who made over $200 million by peddling heroine on the streets of New York. There’s nothing new about drug-related stories, but Lucas wasn’t like every other dealer. He was above the mob. He sets himself apart by importing pure heroine directly from Southeast Asia, thereby cutting out the middlemen. That allows him to transfer the savings to his customers. Wait, it gets better. He eventually offsets the natural balance by selling his product, which is twice as good as what competitors like Nicky Barnes are offering, for half the price! It turns out to be a magical approach. The product, which shares its brand name with one of the songs on Jay-Z’s American Gangster LP, earns Lucas enough revenue to buy his mom a mansion.
Jay-Z often says that he’s in his comfort zone when rhyming about crime. Denzel Washington seems to echo that sentiment when playing a bad guy on screen. He manages to pull off a character that’s admirable and despicable at the same time. Lucas is cool, calm, and calculated on one hand. Yet his line of work is so ruthless that handing out a can of ass-whooping every now and then seems necessary.
And that’s not an easy task for Frank Lucas, who has a dogged cop named Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) breathing down his neck and siblings like T.I.’s character looking up to you. One of the most intriguing scenes was when Lucas’ nephew (T.I.’s character) abandons an offer to play for the Yankees. His excuse?
“I don’t wanna be a baseball player no more, Uncle Lucas. I wanna be like you. I want what you got.”
I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Ridley Scott attached a useful role to every bigwig on the cast rather than piggyback on their fame.
Relentlessly raw and absolutely thought-provoking, American Gangster is The Godfather of our era. No stones are left unturned. No questions are left unanswered.
And as you might expect, American Gangster the movie left me with a greater sense of appreciation for American Gangster the album. Those guys and their marketing plans…
