An electric performance from Washington does not help the film's meandering storyline

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2007)

Much like Martin Scorsese before him, Ridley Scott continues to pump out films with his eyes set out on a little Gold statue for himself. Sure, his last real shot was with Gladiator, which won Best Picture and Best Actor, but failed to net him Best Director. Now, hot on the tails of Scorsese's own Oscar-winning masterpiece The Departed, Scott has climbed into the saddle and created his own crime film in American Gangster.
Gangster, much like Departed, is a parallel story. On one end, it follows the story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), a businessman who deals in the purest heroin New York had seen at the time, and in being black in the early 1970's, is not exactly making a lot of friends. On the other side is Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), a sex-infused detective hell bent on defeating corruption and just being an all around good cop.
Right from the offset, the audience knows Lucas and Roberts are going to meet at some point in the film. Scott hypes this up, much like Michael Mann does in Heat and Scorsese does in Departed, by juxtaposing Lucas' rise to the powerful heroin magnet he becomes over time, and Roberts continued battle against corruption both within the police and on the streets. The film never lingers on either one for too long, instead choosing to jump between either man's story every few moments. We share their conflicts, and we share their near triumphant moments. But it also brings about a sense of pathos and ethics, in wondering who we should be cheering for, and who we hope wins by the time the blockbuster meeting takes place.
But on that same token, the film fumbles over itself. Yes, it is a rivetingly deep story for the most part, but it has more in common with misdirection and red herrings than I would have liked. Characters are continually introduced and brought into the fold, yet nothing really becomes of them (such as Cuba Gooding Jr., who I hope can now use this film as a replacement for half of the garbage listed on his resume after Jerry Maguire). Yes, they do build up the story, and yes, a lot of these events with minor characters help move the film along, but they just do not feel all that needed in the grand scheme of things. A few of the scenes feel like filler just to pad the film into getting prestige status as a three hour epic on par with the greats of the 1970's. It feels a lot like it is cheating itself out of being truly great by playing these scenes up, and really could have felt a lot tighter and stronger if many of these were cut right out of the picture. When the film wants to be electrifying and blazing fast, it is. But in many other cases, it tangles itself up in near boredom inducing sequencing.
One reason they feel so unnecessary is the cheapening and misuse of many of the supporting characters. Characters like Gooding Jr.'s Nicky Barnes and Josh Brolin's rival Detective Trupo are clearly important to the film, but they get next to no time to really shine. When the film is not meandering through scenes it does not need, it races through scenes that could have helped strengthen it, especially if it was left at the same running time as it currently sits at. I wanted to know more about these characters, and I wanted to discover their significance. But despite some really great work coming out of these supporting characters (especially from Brolin), the film just does not call for anyone to really care about these characters and their impact on the film. It just seems to care about the Denzel and Russell show more often than not.
Washington, in the main character role, is absolutely electrifying as Lucas. The role is his juiciest since Training Day, and he knows it. He plays the character with a smoldering sense of tenderness and downright evil. I have yet to see an actor who could trade the two traits off so interchangeably and so inexplicably easy as Washington does here. I did care what happened to his character and was scared for him, but at the same time, I was terrified of the guy too. He was not someone to mess with, and Washington makes it crystal clear that the man should be feared. Crowe on the other hand, is a bit of a tossup. He is really good here, but only when he wants to be. He looks very unenthused for the majority of the movie, but delivers when the scene asks for it. He is a strong performer no doubt, but his subdued and near unnatural performance does not any chance to stand next to Washington's overpoweringly memorable take equally.
While it has story and character issues, the film itself is filmed quite beautifully. Harking back to imagery from the likes of Scarface, The French Connection and The Godfather, American Gangster paints the image of a nitty gritty New York. The film is a very dark picture, and it lends itself to some pretty stark imagery. There is minor light and bright images littered throughout the film, but there is a certain sense of subdued grey that is carried for the majority of it. It definitely felt authentic to the time period, and the details in keeping this way are numerous. Even the costumes have been detailed to a point of timed perfection. Both helped make the film more riveting when it was losing steam quickly.
American Gangster, for as much as it does right, does not live up to everything people had hoped for. It has everything the greats have, but it just does not seem to know how to line up all the pieces. It is a worthwhile venture, but not one that needed to be so lengthy.
8/10.