Excellent, yet without depth

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2007)

American Gangster is clearly a movie born from the lessons learned from movies such as Scarface, The Godfather, and other gangster flicks. Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe perform quite well at their roles. Washington plays Frank Lucas, a black entrepreneur who uses skills he learned from his earlier career to become powerful and wealthy in the dope trade. Crowe plays a detective who's scrupulous honesty on the job makes his life harder. The characters are quite enjoyable to watch as they make their way throughout the film. The key enjoyable aspect about this film is all the parts are B+. Nothing is fantastic yet nothing fails to disappoint. The movie is long, more then 2 hours and crawls at a slow pace you'd expect from a character study. Yet although the characters are fun to watch, they lack depth, as if the film is not really concerned with their personalities beyond what is required for the story. Ultimately this movie is entertaining and it is quality, however its ultimate lack of depth combined with its slow pace prevent it from becoming a hallmark of its genre.