If you go into American Gangster expecting to see Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe going mano-a-mano against each other in a rematch of their earlier film Virtuosity, you'll be disappointed. They don't appear in a scene together until the very end of the movie and Denzel's character, Mob Boss Frank Lucas, is completely unaware of Crowe's Detective' Richie Roberts' existence. It's still a good movie, but with two such heavyweight actors together in the same movie, you can't help but want to see more of them together.
Based on a true story, American Gangster tells the tale of Frank Lucas, a notorious crime boss of the 1970's. Using connections in Vietnam, Lucas rose to power by importing heroin from the far east, smuggling it into the country by hiding it in the coffins of dead American soldiers. Purer and cheaper then what was currently available on the streets, Lucas amassed a fortune that soon found him to be the most powerful Gang Boss in New York City. Even the mafia came subserviently to him for a piece of the action. He was the most powerful Black gangster to have ever lived.
Against him is detective Richie Roberts. During a period when the police were notoriously corrupt, Roberts stood out as the "one good cop in a bad town". He became famous amongst his fellow officers when he discovered nearly a million dollars in the trunk of a car and then turned it in rather than keeping it for himself. This makes him a pariah on the force, since his fellow officers would rather he kept it quiet and distributed it among them. His honesty pays off in a way when he's recruited by the newly formed DEA. His first assignment is to go after the suppliers of the new super heroin "Blue Magic", which he learns after much hard work is Frank Lucas.
Like the Godfather, this movie makes you care about and have a certain begrudging respect for a gangster. Yes, he's a murderer and a drug pusher, with a fierce temper, but he's also a family man who looks out for those who look out for him. While the movie does show scenes of users of his product ruining their lives, you could argue that he's not the one forcing them to use drugs, he's just taking advantage of the fact that there will always be those who do. He's certainly better than the corrupt police who would rather look the other way so as not to kill the cash cow. At least he's not a hypocrite.
The "good guy", Roberts, is no less grey. He's a horrible father, embroiled in a bitter custody case with his ex-wife, more for the purpose of hurting her than for actually gaining custody of his son. He has friends from the old neighborhood who are known mobsters, who he leaves alone so that he can gain the occasional piece of information.
My problem with the greyness of each character is that the movie lacks a certain urgency. If Lucas was a total bastard, you'd be rooting for Roberts to take him down the whole movie and waiting for the final showdown. If Roberts was a total corrupt bastard, you'd be hoping for Lucas to outwit him and somehow come out on top.
The other problem with this movie is that it's just too damn long. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Comedies should be 90 minutes, dramas, 120. When a movie runs 2 hours and 40 minutes, as this one does, you'd better be damn sure that the story couldn't have been told in less, but such is not the case here. Most of the trimming could have been Robert's side. Way too much time is spent on his partner and his ex-wife. His story could have started with his recruitment to the DEA. It's almost as if Crowe demanded equal time with Washington and got it, when for the story, it wasn't needed.
And so what could have been a great movie, is instead only a good one. I'm a fan of well-done gangster movies and this one is well-done, just not well-done enough.
