True Stories are Good Stories

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2007)

Based on a true story, American Gangster, directed by Ridley Scott, is an account of Frank Lucas' (Denzel Washington) drive to become the most deadly man in America, circa late nineteen sixties. As a black driver and body guard of Bumpy Johnson he learns all that he knows from him in becoming an international drug dealer. He found ways to traffic drugs from the Vietnam War to the United States using the coffins of dead soldiers. This allowed him to buy straight from the manufacturer cutting out the middle man, which is alluded to early in the movie. This combination of low prices and high potency drugs allowed him to sell a "better product then the competition at a lower price than the competition." This equals huge profits. The unknown black man quietly became the drug kingpin of Manhattan. As he became bigger the target on his back also became bigger. When a rare uncorrupted cop, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), caught a whiff of Lucas' hierarchy he rapidly became a wanted man. This finally led to his demise, and his employed family, which accrued to Lucas' reduced sentence of 15 years after he brought down three fourths of the drug officers in NYC, all of which were corrupt.
American Gangster depicts a great story line of how someone so unknown can become an illegal giant just by knowing how to play his cards right. It combines a great number of action scenes with scenes that let the plot flow in leading to the next twist. New problems are brought up and most are quickly dealt with by a bull headed Lucas in a usually brutal fashion. In addition to plot flow the story line also throws in a few allusions and fore shadowing. I mentioned one above but another is one early in the movie where whenever a television is in a scene it is always a broadcast of the war. This is very important to the plot in that it gives Lucas the idea of buying the drugs in Vietnam and trafficking it via the coffins of dead American G.I.'s, which is found out later in the movie. Richie Roberts is also an important character showing that good cops still do exist among a very corrupt city. The combination of stories is also well described in the movie showing the lives of both Roberts and Lucas. In that it Shows how two opposites can end up meeting in the end to bring down something that they both scorn mutually. Corrupt cops happen to be the intersection point in this situation.
The attitudes of how Scott wants the characters portrayed are also shown well. The opening scene shows a stone faced Lucas lighting a man on fire. This is followed by two shots from a pistol to the man's body as the man squirms around on the ground bound and aflame. Immediately the audience thinks that Lucas is all business and that if you cross him in the wrong way you will pay the ultimate price. Roberts' attitude is also portrayed well, however in a different light. A scene that highlights this is one in which Roberts and his partner search a car that contains nearly one million dollars in unmarked cash. No one would know if he and his partner were to take it as it is dirty and unknown to authorities. He decides to turn it in instead which is followed by a jeering by his fellow officers as he is called such things as "boy scout" alluding to his straight arrowed attitude and outlook on duty as an officer. Scott also shows a lot of talent in the way he can both make scenes that are both wide open, see: family gets new house from Lucas, and close fast paced scenes, see: the busting of the drug operation, look stunning. Overall we find a movie that has all of the ingredients for a blockbuster. When combined with the directive muscle of Scott it equals a cinematic adventure that exposes one of the best true tales of the century that seems to flex at full strength. It's a long movie at nearly two hours and thirty minutes, but well worth it.