"The Godfather" meets "Coonskin" and "Catch Me If You Can"

Rating: 8/10 (22 September 2016)

It's one fine solid movie with interesting characters and an interesting story. I was really curious how Ridley Scott would handle such a Bio-History-film. Of cause "1492: Conquest of Paradise" for example, was a good work but I had always some problems with the pacing.
To be true, it was the same problem with this movie. Especially at the beginning. Some shots and cuts seemed so hard and unplaced... nearly like he was trying to make a Sci-Fi-Horror.
So the build up of the two main characters was a bit rough. And it took some time to get deeper into their story and meaning.
But when you get over this and you are still interested in the story, you will get a pretty good movie with many nice twists.
From time to time you will get some sweet Déjà-Vu's thinking of "The Godfather" and "Catch Me If You Can".
Also you can feel Washingtons and Crowes development as their characters grow with the story. Crowes spiritedly comic-relief character is the perfect counterpoint to Washingtons mostly serious Version of the black godfather of Harlem. It's a joy to watch them when their stories overlap.
A big plus are also the well detailed sets and a rousing soundtrack. You get a good idea of the tone of that time.
If you like to know more about these days, I recommend to watch "Coonskin". It's a morbid little film about the social chaos in Harlem during the 60's/70's.
Peace