another fine piece of cinema from our boy, ridley

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2007)

American Gangster ties with Eastern Promises as one of the two top crime dramas of 2007. It had a well structured story, a good cast and fine directing by none other than the best.
There is one thing I take into account when I watch a "cops vs. criminals" film: protagonists and antagonists. Personally, I usually do not care much for the concept. If it is a fictional film then characters can be played out any way that works. In a movie based on a true story however, I prefer to see every character as human beings. American Gangster accomplished that. Frank Lucas was not some evil sadistic heroine kingpin. He was a man of ethics who decided to go into a dirty business. Richie Roberts wasn't a decorated police officer that everyone looked up to. He had to make tough choices when it came to whose side he was on. These people weren't played out to be perfectly good or bad. It made the movie very authentic to the real world and the real story.
I am among the many who believe Ridley Scott deserves that Academy Award he has coming to him. He has made some of the greatest movies of the past several decades. From science fiction to war to historical and many other genres in between, the man has accomplished more than most directors ever could. Ridley is a true artist, and American Gangster can be added to the list of proof that he is.