A Uniquely American Success Story: American Gangster
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe

By Breanne Boland November 15, 2007 Issue

Based on a true story, American Gangster tells the story of a Harlem mobster whose ascension through the ranks of crime was so unprecedented even law enforcement couldn’t believe it was true. Circumventing the established mafia families, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) used an Asian heroin connection, a fierce work ethic, and an unflinching willingness to kill to outwit the considerable powers at work in the New York drug trade.

Russell Crowe plays a native New York cop whose honesty alienates him from his fellow officers. When he gets the chance to head a special narcotics investigation unit, he and his fellow honest cops build an investigation from the bottom up. However, only after months of surveillance do they realize exactly whom they’re dealing with. Lucas is brutal, but he deliberately flies under the radar.

His product, however, did not. By getting pure heroin directly from Vietnam and exploiting the air traffic between it and the U.S., he sold drugs at twice the strength for half the price. The enmity this earned him is what helped to bring about his undoing.

Washington is always at least memorable in his more malevolent turns. Here, he’s more restrained than in Training Day, but no less menacing. In fact, he may be more so — Lucas is a businessman with a strict agenda in a business notorious for its shifting allegiances and high stakes. Despite surrounding himself with his North Carolina family, things are still beginning to crumble by the time he begins to tangle with the law.

Crowe serves as an excellent counter, a straight-laced cop with a messy personal life. Though he’s 180 degrees away from Lucas, he’s no less diligent, and the long-awaited moment of their meeting in the film is delightfully tense.

Speaking of long, yes, the film is — 157 minutes, to be exact. However, if you don’t get the large soda, this New York epic carries its length gracefully, with a satisfying denouement following Lucas’s inevitable yet suspenseful capture.

Some facts have been invented or stretched, sure, but with a life as memorable as Lucas’s, sticking to the bare truth would only tell half the story. It’s rumored, for instance, that he routinely pulled in a million dollars a day, and he once smuggled drugs on Henry Kissinger’s plane. His actual methods of heroin transportation make the methods used by modern drug mules seem crass and unimaginative.

The Russell Crowe-Ridley Scott films are usually a safe bet; this sprawling exploration of a lost era in Harlem and an underground trailblazer is no exception.

Bottom line: a great novel of a film

Coming Attractions

Nov. 16
Beowulf - Angelina Jolie’s uncontainable erotic power threatens a village; will the world be next? Written by Neil Gaiman: plus! “Filmed” in that weird motion captures that made The Polar Express so creepy: minus!

Love in the Time of Cholera - An adaptation of the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Javier Bardem plays the lead, a man who is lost in his adult life due to being rejected as a teenager by the woman he loved.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium - Oh, wacky, wacky, wacky. This and Bee Movie have reminded me of how much I hate overly aggressive marketing campaigns. At least Natalie Portman is super cute with her short hair.

Nov. 21
The Mist - Based on the Stephen King short story, which bears some resemblance to The Fog. Directed by Frank Darabont, who has directed some of the more memorable King adaptations, most notably The Shawshank Redemption.

Enchanted - On the eve of her marriage to a prince, a girl is banished from her pretty animated kingdom, only to land in real-life New York City. If it’s done right, this clever contrast of naivetÈ to extreme cynicism could be very funny — especially because it’s a Disney film.

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