Gangster themes revisited with style and violence--a strong if familiar vein

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2013)

American Gangster (2007)
Almost by design, this movie starts off filled with mobster clichés. The idea is to set up a world that we are well acquainted with from earlier classics like "The Godfather," and we see power, ruthlessness, loyalty, money, and ambition quickly mixed together. The clichés are almost boring (not that Denzel Washington is ever boring)—the gangster is charming and clever, the cop is dedicated to his job and his wife is leaving him, and all the minions and hangers-on are as they should be, colorful and secondary.
So it almost ends up being just another gangster movie, this one being about a black godfather. But "American Gangster" then adds some new elements, including some brief scenes set in Thailand and a long coda at the end where the cops and the criminal cooperate. I won't give too much away there.
All of it is filmed well, edited with clarity, and acted in a straight up realistic manner. For director Ridley Scott these are almost backhanded compliments. You might expect more. In fact, as much as the grows on you as it goes, and gets more colorful and complex, it remains really conventional as a movie. It's smart enough and slick enough to work, but it doesn't rise above—and it had the ingredients to rise very much above.
In addition to Washington there is a really stunning (if clichéd) cop performance by Russell Crowe. And mixed into the large supporting cast are some stunning talents. Washington's mother is played with intensity by Ruby Dee (who I know best in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing") and Armand Assante is a convincing old mob type in the Brando vein.
Mostly it's Washington's movie. He's the title character, and he plays it mostly cool and charming, flashing his smile and running his efficient and risky business with confidence. There are lessons in the story about going it alone (no middlemen, for example), about family in crime (Italian style and African-American style), and about the limits of family loyalty (drugs and money are powerful temptations).
There are also hints of the mayhem of the times—the late 60s and early 70s. Vietnam forms a vague but constant backdrop (not civil rights protests, oddly). And drug use is of course an important theme in the movie, though without particular judgement. People who have died using it are shown to be reckless types to start with (I'm abbreviating). One could easily say that the dire, evil, selfish, murderous aspects of being a drug king are glosses over—hinted at for sure but shown with those some old clichés the movie uses throughout, which has the feeling of acceptance.
A really good movie. It's not one bit original, but in a way that's the point. This is the story of an extraordinary rise by one black man in the heat of the late 1960s to a position of unrivaled power and wealth. It's told with precision and familiarity and a certain amount of artful competence that makes it really feel solid and significant.