Great Talent/Good Movie

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2018)

A great story, a great director, and a great actor came together, and ultimately made a good movie. With all of these ingredients, it would be hard to fail, and they certainly didn't fail. But the problem with this movie is that it wasn't edgy enough. Denzel did a fine job, but he didn't come across as a cold blooded killer. Denzel is a pretty serious guy and he brought that seriousness to the role of Frank Lucas. But I didn't see any homicidal undertones in his performance, the way I saw it with Al Pacino when he played Tony Montana. That guy was a true nutcase. Denzel was just a little too polished, though it worked fine. The same can be said with Ridley Scott's directing. He made a lot of good choices, but again, something was missing. I would have liked to see him take a few chances or do something a little more drastic to capture the drama. But these criticisms aside, American Gangster is definitely a well-made movie that is worth seeing.