‘Gangster’ needs a better bad guy
Watching the movie
”
American Gangster
”
is so frustrating because you know there is a good movie just
waiting to come out, but it never does.
”
American Gangster
”
is the true story of Harlem heroin dealer Frank Lucas and his
rise to power in the 1970s. The movie deals with his story and also
with Richie Roberts, the cop who finally brought him to justice.
Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe play Lucas and
Roberts.
‘Gangster’ needs a better bad guy
Watching the movie “American Gangster” is so frustrating because you know there is a good movie just waiting to come out, but it never does.
“American Gangster” is the true story of Harlem heroin dealer Frank Lucas and his rise to power in the 1970s. The movie deals with his story and also with Richie Roberts, the cop who finally brought him to justice. Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe play Lucas and Roberts.
The director Ridley Scott has made great films before, such as “Alien” (1979), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Black Rain” (1989) and “Gladiator” (2000). With this film he seems out of his element. It’s like he wants to combine “The French Connection,” “Scarface” and “The Godfather” in one film. It’s an ambitious project, but it just doesn’t work.
The main problem with “American Gangster” is that it’s really two films in one. The filmmakers should have focused on either Lucas or Roberts, but not both. According to screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) he wrote two separate scripts and then combined them together. It shows. It takes more than an hour and half before Richie Roberts learns about Frank Lucas and decides to investigate him.
The great thing about “The French Connection” (1971) is that it moves quickly. Right away Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) discovers the drug dealers and the rest of the film is basically a chase film. Doyle and his partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) put them under surveillance and follow them all over New York City.
We watch as Doyle becomes obsessed with bringing the drug smugglers to justice. There is no passion in “American Gangster.” Richie Roberts spots Frank Lucas at the Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier fight at Madison Square Garden and decides to investigate him. We don’t get the feeling that he is obsessed with Lucas and there is no urgency. The film just meanders along to the conclusion.
I liked Richie Roberts. I think that he is more interesting than Frank Lucas. He’s an honest cop who finds a million dollars in a car trunk and turns it in. He becomes an outcast among his fellow officers and no one wants to work with him. He goes to night school and becomes a prosecutor then later a defense attorney who defended the real Frank Lucas against drug charges. That story is more interesting than another drug kingpin story.
Russell Crowe was perfect as Roberts. I always forget that he is Australian because he seems to be able to do any accent. His New Jersey accent in this film is flawless. I think that he is the greatest actor working today. He becomes the character. I wanted to fast forward every scene that he wasn’t in just to get back to his performance.
Denzel Washington gives one of his poorest performances. He isn’t right for the role. He was good in “Training Day” when he played the corrupt cop, but here he doesn’t seem like a ruthless drug dealer. There are several scenes when he is alone in a diner eating or reading the newspaper. We know that the character is supposed to be intelligent, but these scenes don’t help. They just slow the film down.
There is one good scene where someone gets shot at one of his parties and he erupts in a fit of rage. When one of his employees is trying to get the blood out of the carpet he yells at them, “Blot it! Don’t rub it.” It’s the only time that he shows any real emotion.
That’s the difference between him and Crowe. With Washington’s performance you are thinking that’s Denzel Washington playing Frank Lucas, but with Crowe’s performance you feel like you are getting the real deal.
It isn’t until the end of the film when the two stars have a scene together, and then Crowe steals it with his quiet authority.
The thing that made Frank Lucas’s story so interesting was that he smuggled in pure heroin from Southeast Asia. He used the caskets of dead American soldiers coming home from Vietnam to stash it in. The film just glosses over it. I would have liked to see more scenes involving his operation in Vietnam and how the drugs were brought to the U.S.
The supporting characters are even more exciting to watch than Washington. Josh Brolin is excellent as a dirty cop who extorts protection money from Lucas. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is great as Lucas’ rival drug dealer Nicky Barnes.
Nicky Barnes is the opposite of Frank Lucas. He is loud and flamboyant. He flaunts his drug power. There is a great scene between the two of them when Lucas confronts him for cutting up his heroin and making it cheaper. Gooding Jr. is frightening, but he only has two scenes. I wanted to find out more about their relationship, but the film never went back to them.
There is one good shootout in the film towards the end. It may be one of the best and most realistic ever filmed, but by the time the shootout starts it’s too late to save the film.
I can only imagine how great the film would have been if in the hands of a different director such as Scorcese or Tarantino. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) was the original director, but dropped out because of creative differences. He could have made a great film, or even Joe Carnahan, who directed the gritty cop film “Narc” could have done better.
If you want to watch an excellent crime drama, I recommend these films: “The Departed,” “The French Connection,” “The Godfather,” “New Jack City,” “State Of Grace,” and “Training Day.”
