If you liked Departed you'll enjoy Gangster

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2008)

The point is: American Gangster isn't revolutionary film - if you expected never-seen before gangster story. But there is main reasons why you'll never notice it: everything is superbly done.
Ridley Scott did amazing job: everything is on its place and fits perfectly - his way of directing carries script without any problem and you'll never have feeling you're bored although film runs over 150 min. Scott did great work with putting together main story and characters personal lives in a way that makes you interested in both. There aren't additional explanations of something viewer already knows - problem many films of this kind have and you'll notice many interesting lines in script that lead to questions director left for audience to think about - very nice. Fact that there are few action scenes shows what kind of director Scott is because film hold its dynamic tag line till last minutes, something to silence those who thought Scott isn't able to successfully direct anything except action.
Russel Crow and especially Denzel Washington gave great performances. Washington would probably earn Oscar nomination if his role wasn't so close to his Training Day bad guy role. Fact he used "My Man" line from same film didn't help a lot, although it fits very good.
So, here we are with (over)valued Oscars. Gangster earned 2 nominations and could earn much more without anybody asking any questions. Departed did earn more so Academy could redeem itself to Scorsese for not appreciating his earlier work. They should watch out - they could be redeeming to Scott one day.