All style, no substance

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2007)

American Gangster seemingly has all the ingredients of a great movie: a great story, (multiple) Oscar-winning stars, a very solid supporting cast, and a good director. However, the film is not the sum of its parts.
How do you go wrong with a gangster movie starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and Ridley Scott directing? Watch American Gangster, and you'll see.
The film lacks a great deal of character development, and it seems the details on both sides of the story are left out in favor of attention-grabbing scenes and montages.
You have to give them credit. Even at 2 1/2 hours, American Gangster never drags. However, it seems awfully abbreviated, as if someone cut out most of the scenes that involved plot/ character development. With those details included, this could have been a 4-hour movie.
Overall, American Gangster isn't a bad film. It just isn't the epic, Oscar-winning film it was marketed to be.