The Black Scarface

Rating: 7/10 (15 April 2008)

This movie is a true story based on the life of an African-American drug dealer rising through the ranks of New York drug dealers, using his charm, intelligence and sheer determination to overcome any obstacle to live the American dream. Sound Familiar? The best way to describe this film is a toned-down version of Scarface. Not as gritty and "in your face". Volatile but not very violent. Aggressive but not explosive. Interesting but not thrilling.
In the end, it goes a long way to be extremely entertaining but falls short of being gripping. It lacks the charisma and rawness of Scarface and the result is a low-impact but extremely watchable gangster movie.
It delivers your staple gangster diet of shootings, threats, revenge-taking, power-trips and "what you gonna do about it sucka?" lines that you crave so much as a gangster movie lover. With the added bonus of showing you not only how powerful a man can become but also the price he pays for it. Or does he? Definitely worth watching to find out.
I'm a great gangster movie fan and I watched this movie purely based on the fact that I thought Denzel Washington would make a fantastic gangster. I saw his performance in Man On Fire and thought he is ideally suited to play a cool, collected and deadly man. He plays the role more like a professional hit-man than a loud gangster. Class and dignity is a key theme.
Crowe throws in a good performance too but more forgettable. They're both Oscar winners but they lack the enigmatic factor. Don't get me wrong...the acting is descent but you get the feeling that the movie is somewhat saved by the actors, not by the acting itself. The headlining A-list names attract you, not their performances in the role. They've both had much better roles in the past (Training day, Gladiator etc). In other words you wouldn't go to see this movie if it were Ted Danson and Louis Gossett Jr in the main roles but you would be equally entertained when watching the movie itself?
You will enjoy this film because you love gangster movies and because there hasn't ever been a decent African-American gangster movie made until this one. It is worth watching but don't expect a masterpiece.
Ultimately you will be very aware throughout the film that you're only watching it to find out what happens to the main character, not because the movie is good.
I'm giving it a 7/10 but only because I know you'll enjoy watching it if you're a gangster movie lover. If this isn't your genre, then it's still entertaining but would only score a 5/10.
For lovers of Gangster movies only then.