The kind of film that Hollywood built its name upon

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2007)

'American Gangster' - Ridley Scott, 2007
True diversity is a rare buckle in the utility belt of your average mainstream director, yet English-born Ridley Scott has positively paraded this attribute over the years. To make a cult-shaped name for yourself through the genre of sci-fi ('Alien', 'Blade Runner') is difficult enough, but to build on this with drama ('Thelma & Louise') and thriller ('Hannibal', 'Matchstick Men') films requires some grand diversification. Therefore we shouldn't be surprised that his crowning moment came through another genre still - with sprawling Roman epic 'Gladiator' taking best picture and best actor gongs at the Oscars. Well, it's Oscar time again and Mr. Scott is back trying his hand at another foreign genre - the well tested drug/crime flick. 'American Gangster' is based on the true tale of heroin kingpin Frank Lucas - who used the Vietnam War to smuggle great quantities into Manhatten. Lucas is played by Denzel Washington who after tasting success as a villain in 'Training Day' seems intent on repeating the feat. Though as a much more pensive and world-weary criminal. Opposing him is common-man detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), salt of New York's drug-polluted earth and perhaps the most honest of the City's crooked police line-up.
'American Gangster' is a story of two sides - black and white. Not in the literal sense of the words, but instead the black and white of the morality scale. We are told the tale of two powerful characters that face off across a slowly crumbling City backdrop, mostly unaware of one another's presence. Messieurs Washington and Crowe are two of cinema's more traditional actors (of those who remain) and fit their respective roles perfectly. Each reversing their general image to take up positions that both contrast and complement well. We are introduced to them as hero and villain respectively, but as the film rumbles on this outlook inverts back and forth, showing us both the good and bad qualities of each individual - so in the end we are not exactly sure for whom we should root. The showcase of 'American Gangster' is of course this aforementioned stand off between two different but also similar essences of man - yet there is some decent support work to make up our ensemble cast. With Chiwetel Ejiofor impressing once again as Frank Lucas' impressionable young brother Huey, taking to the drawling North Carolina accent with ease. Though for all this impressive talent, the cast does lack a little personality - with perhaps too much time spent on developing the personality of Manhatten itself, instead of its inhabitants.
The bustling streets of seventies' Harlem are shot with a tender justice by Scott, who saturates everything of colour in order to show a City draining of goodness before our very eyes. We have been lucky this year to experience two wonderful reinvigorations of well-trodden genres, with David Fincher's 'Zodiac' joining 'American Gangster' as one of the finest modern portrayals of its respective type. Indeed many comparisons and differences can be drawn between the two. One of the negative aspects of 'Zodiac' was its bloated runtime, and at a lengthy 157 minutes 'American Gangster' could be expected to drag also. But this potential pitfall is skillfully avoided by the director - who's use of a striding score and decidedly restless cinematography ensures that while the film may slow down in places, it never stops outright. The only thing that perhaps proves to be a drawback here is the fact Scott isn't attempting anything drastically new with regard to plot - and although the interesting moral interchange between his two leads is unique enough, the sometimes clumsy dialogue lets the film down in places. An element that can be forgiven however when considering how much focus is placed on action and reaction, body language, expression and emotion.
'American Gangster' is the kind of film that Hollywood built its name upon, yet somewhere along the line forgot how to reproduce. And one that represents another impressively diverse rung on Ridley Scott's film ladder.
8/10