Greater things

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2007)

If Denzel Washington did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. I guess while we're add it we just might as well throw Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe onto the "necessary inventions" list. Reason being is that we need people like them. We need people who can embody and portray things greater than the average man. Now on a personal level Denzel Washington (and others like him) is just a person like you and me. He gets up, eats breakfast, goes to work and occasionally thinks of a crude joke. Nevermind the fact that he gets $20 million per assignment, that's just his good fortune. Fact is, that when he is on screen, often times, he isn't just Denzel anymore. He's an encapsulating presence that you're fascinated by. Or in this case of portraying Frank Lucas, intimidated by. He portrays a ruthless, calculating and clever business man (aka a gangster), but Frank Lucas also embodies a certain sense of virtue. He may be greedy and treacherous in his methods, but he has a strong sense of diligence and honor. In one scene Lucas says, "The most important thing in business is honesty, integrity, hard work... family... never forgetting where we came from." That's something every working man should adhere to.
Yet why are so many tales of honor and virtue about criminals? People who by definition have too little or none? In this case I think the definition is wrong, they don't too little, they have a lot in fact. But they get things done their way. Honor among thieves. They may rob and corrupt (Frank Lucas was far from being an angel) but the fact remains they know how to get things done and get it done real good. That is the primary fascination we have with people who venture beyond our established laws and say "I'm gunna do it my way." The leap from the rules allows them to create their own laws, their own crimes, and as they form they are seen at the essence for what they are, which is the same old virtue and vice most of us deal with.
The other side of the spectrum is Ritchie Roberts, the man trying to bring Frank Lucas down and he is in a way similar. He is given charge of a special police unit for the job. Ritchie is fascinating just like Frank Lucas, he gets things done his way despite being on the right side of the law. The fascinating climax of the film has these two powerful opposing forces meeting for the first time. However, that's where my only complaint with the film is. The scene is, well, brief. They meet, make eye contact and then boom, next scene. Naturally the scene would be brief, especially in a movie, since from watching the movie we all know what is going to happen as the film has only been building up to this for two hours. However to better capture the intensity of that scene something more could have been done.
Though, by the time the film is over, a very brisk two and half hours I might add, you'll be ready to put this on the shelf next to Scorsese's best crime film's. --- 9/10
Rated R for violence, profanity, and drug use. Ages 13+