American Gangster
Sunday, November 11, 2007

I didn't anticipate this film, so I wasn't looking forward to seeing it. I'm not hostile to the premise: you know, Black Americans were (can be) as organized as the generic Sicilian mobsters. I saw the film solely out of boredom.

I'm as restless as a 2 year old (sometimes), so in my search for entertainment I figured this would be the easiest to digest. I was right.

I like Denzel Washington. I also like Russell Crowe.

However, there were some minor actors in this film I had even more affection for:

• Chiwetel Ejiofor: this guy is so gifted - I have to write about him later.

• Cuba Gooding Jr. : I feel so sorry for him these days.

• Roger Guenveur Smith: I see him everywhere, but I never remember his name.

• Armand Assante: he conveys such a sense of suave, handsome, and dignified manliness. What a guy.

What was the film about? It was taken from a business perspective. Instead of getting drugs from corrupt cops (who stole the drugs and chopped / diluted it), Frank Lucas went directly to the source. How did he get the drugs here? I was reminded of the film Blow - the drugs were flown in through connections. In this case, Lucas used his "cousin" in the military to deliver it during the Vietnam war.

I appreciate that the film didn't glorify the drug dealing culture. It didn't make being a drug dealer fun or glamorous. The movie didn't mince foul language, but it wasn't brutally vicious either. It could almost be a PG-13 film if not for the nudity and people getting their brains blown out. Yet, it wasn't gratuitously violent.

Denzel and Russel don't see each other until the end of the film - so it ran on separate tracks and then runs together. It was a smooth and even film, but at the same time I felt like I had seen something like this a hundred times before.

I'm not a fan of gangster films, aside from the comedic joy of Scarface, I avoid most of them.

You can wait for the DVD of this movie.

Labels: American Gangster, Armand Assante, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe

posted by GoldenAh
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