American Boom Mike

Rating: 4/10 (1 December 2007)

This is a difficult movie to review. It is such a panorama that there are bound to be good and bad parts, good and bad performances. But first, there must be Razzies going to the Director and the Boom Mike Man, and maybe the film editor. The boom mike appears so prominently and so often in this picture that a regular laugh went up from the audience in the theater I was in each time it appeared! Now, this in not some college film school project ... this is Ridley Scott for crying out loud! Both leads did a creditable job, but poor Russell Crowe's character is so annoying that one winced each time the movie switched to him. He also gets in a gratuitous sex scene with his pretty young lawyer that actually detracts from the movie. Denzel carries aloofness to new heights with his stoic portrayal of Frank Lucas. But he is effective, where Crowe could not do a thing to help his Richie Roberts.
The only time we are reminded of Lucas' humanity is when he inexplicably shows an attraction to Eva, whom he later marries, played by the somewhat homely Lymari Nadal. Fortunately, Ms. Nadal is not asked to deliver too many lines, but to just stand around and look pretty; she is capable of neither.
Josh Brolin steals every scene he is in, he has here a sinister screen presence, and we need to see more of him. Armand Assante tries vainly to mimic a Mafia don. Ruby Dee annoyingly and cloyingly turns in the obligatory unknowing gangster's mother routine. Cuba Gooding Jr does what he can with the 20 or so seconds he is on screen (actually, the boom mike got more screen time).
Yet, despite all of the above, the aggregate turns out to be a pretty fair movie, albeit about 30 minutes too long. It's a tough call, but I would advise waiting for the DVD, as it pales in comparison with similar movies of this genre, such as Scarface or King of New York.