Washington's character not as admirable as advertised

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2007)

In reading pre-release materials and anticipatory material about the movie, I heard that Lucas was a complicated, complex guy. I can't say I saw that much in the film. To me he seemed like a money-grubbing, cold-blooded, amoral drug dealer. Yes, he looked after his mother and his brothers, but is that really so remarkable? Joe Pesci loves his mother in "Goodfellas" but he has no compunction about shooting at the feet of a hobbled waiter or taking out rivals. I don't think there are many out there who do not look after their mothers. The Bible notes that if you love only those dear to you, what more do you do than others? (Matthew 5:47) It would seem that if Lucas was a more complex character, he would exhibit some reservations or depth of character about his role as a high-level drug dealer. That is not the case, however.
Washington is fantastic in portraying a determined, capable, but cold-blooded drug dealer, but I do not see any sign that he is concerned with New York City into which he is introducing so much powerful cocaine and heroin. Again, this is not to diminish the movie itself. It is well made although Russell Crowe seems a bit reserved for a hard-nosed Jersey cop and it does seem to drag on a bit. Those criticisms I could jettison completely were Lucas a bit more decent person. However to me there is little to advertise the guy. He imports huge amounts of very powerful, dangerous drugs, coldly kills those who cross him, and, to my mind, does little else that is admirable.
The film itself drags on a bit courtesy of a rather dry later-middle part of the movie which tracks the difficulty that Richie Roberts (Crowe) comes across in attempting to tie Lucas to the proliferation of high grade drugs on the streets of New York. Lucas' determination to make a mint comes from his belief that the man with whom he cut his teeth as a younger man Charlie Williams (Joe Morton) gave up too much of his money to middle-men in getting his drugs. It's because of this belief that his mentor gave up too much that Lucas attempts and succeeds greatly in cutting out the middlemen. Lucas is essentially the most cut-throat of American businessman-a greedy man who dislikes conceding any amount of possible profits to those whom he considers to be trespassing on his territory. It is this cold-blooded calculation which makes him a compelling character. That said, I do not find him even close to complicated. Cold-blooded, ruthless competitiveness in the drug trade does not really seem to me justification for making such a technically proficient, nicely scored, and well- acted (particularly Ted Levine, Josh Brolin, Cuba Gooding as an athlete with a small share of the drug market which has personally addicted him, and Ruby Dee as a not ignorant mother who accepts her son's largesse but is not in the dark. Washington, however, takes the acting cake, depicting a clear-eyed, enterprising businessman who happens to sell drugs.