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"AMERICAN GANGSTER" (R)
American Gangster is
one of the most entertaining films of 2007
By Clayton Davis
Director Ridley Scott brings to the
screen, American Gangster, the true story of Frank Lucas, the notorious
drug smuggler during the 60s and 70s revolutionized the drug industry.
Oscar winner Steven Zaillian writes the crime piece but doesn’t provide
the viewer with enough fuel to launch the film off the ground. The
countdown to take off was great and then the viewer stayed stagnant with
the engines going for nearly forty-five minutes before the rocket took
off. All the dialogue seemed too forced and too aggressive to engage us
into the film. It was like a five year old telling us to “Watch this,
watch this.” Alright Mr. Scott and Mr. Zaillian, I’ll watch just stop
telling me to do so. I think there was too much anticipation built up
into a mediocre storyline.
Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars as Lucas bringing forth a
candy cane version of his “Alonzo” in Training Day. As the ferocious
Frank, Washington manages to inherit all the fury and anger of a
troubled young individual yearning for success and leave his inhibitions
at the door. As a terrific turn for the veteran actor Washington does an
admiral job on a character we hardly know and introduces him to us full
force. How can Washington manage to be so good and make all this seem
effortless? Beats me, but the fact that it looks so easy and the
character doesn’t demand too much of Washington may be his undoing in
this upcoming awards season. While a nomination isn’t out of the
question, with two wins to his credit, this performance holds no measure
to his previous works. Zaillian was unsure how malicious he wanted to
portray Lucas and ended up portraying him as incredibly unsure of
himself and how he wanted to be. But maybe that’s the character and
Scott just failed to let us know.
Russell Crowe plays Detective Richie Roberts, a narcotics cop battling
more than the drug war on the streets of New York. The monotone
detective never lets Crowe break out of his exterior tough demeanor. A
big star like Crowe definitely takes on this supporting turn with a
sense of humility and that perhaps is the triumph of the performance.
With big starring turns in Gladiator, Cinderella Man, and A Beautiful
Mind, I would never expect Crowe to take on such a quiet role and do it
with dignity. An impressive turn but doesn’t have the pivotal scene that
one actor yearns for that steals any scene.
With 90% of the film having Washington and Crowe separated, the anxious
and satisfying meeting in the finale settled all tension built up
throughout the film’s narrative. Ridley Scott seems on the back burner
of this picture as he allows his stars to run the show. The supporting
cast even shows some brightness off and on. It’s Ruby Dee as Mama Lucas
that capitalizes on her limited screen time. As a veteran actress she
does have the power and potential to break into the extremely weak
Supporting Actress race. She shows vulnerability yet an intense courage
that evokes the audience when she’s on screen.
Josh Brolin’s exciting and villainous turn as a crooked cop turns out to
be a strong turn for the actor who is having one hell of a year with an
acclaimed turn in No Country for Old Men. Chiwitel Ejifor has a presence
in a film that is soothing but doesn’t flow with the characters he
chooses. He might be Hollywood’s best kept secret at the moment with the
wrong roles.
In the end, American Gangster may not have enough steam to jump into the
Best Picture race. With Scott being so “overdue” for a Oscar, that may
the film’s only hope. With comparisons be thrown around to The Departed,
(which doesn’t measure by a mile) last year’s winner, the film already
has an uphill climb ahead. Serious potential for Washington and Dee for
this year’s Oscar race. The film is enjoyable but tries too hard to
start off with a bang and ends up leaving the viewer disenchanted and we
spend too much of the premise trying to play catch up.
***/**** |
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