Spring Break
Living The 'American' Dream
Movie Review: Washington, Crowe Stellar In 'American Gangster'
Stephen Ortiz
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Focus
Harlem, late 1960s/early 1970s, lots of heroin, guns, gangsters, good cops, crooked cops, Denzel Washington acting as a bad-motha'-shut-your-mouth, Russell Crowe acting as a not-so-bad-but-still-kind-of-bad-motha'-shut-your-mouth.
Here's "American Gangster" in an even smaller nutshell: Oscar-worthy.
"American Gangster" is the story of Frank Lucas (Washington), the man that ran Harlem in the later part of the '60s through his arrest in 1973. Lucas was a self-proclaimed renaissance man, buying heroin straight from the source in Vietnam and selling it cheaper than the competitors on the streets under the name "Blue Magic."
But that's only half the story.
Across the river, in Essex County, N.J., Richie Roberts (Crowe) is a honest, hard-working police officer whose personal life is riddled with problems from divorce, visitation rights with his son and studying for the bar exam. Roberts loses the trust of his fellow officers for being too honest after an incident, but is given a second chance when he is asked to start up the Essex County narcotics unit. His mission? To nail the kingpin behind all the dope on the streets, who just so happens to be Lucas.
"American Gangster" is director Ridley Scott's best film since "Gladiator." It's a cinematic accomplishment that certainly should be considered for the Best Picture nod at the Academy Awards. The sets are authentic and really immerse the viewer in the 1960s and '70s New York City from its storefronts, costumes, cars and language. Scott also did a great job of setting the timeline for the film. When time progresses in the movie, a TV can often be heard in the background or actually seen depicting news from the time period, be it drug problems of soldiers in Asia or Nixon talking of a ceasefire in the Vietnam War.
Despite featuring the Jay-Z song "Heart of the City" in the trailer, "American Gangster" boasts a fantastic soundtrack that moves the film well and plays on the setting from funk to a more traditional orchestrated movie score - you won't even feel the two and a half hours.
Here's "American Gangster" in an even smaller nutshell: Oscar-worthy.
"American Gangster" is the story of Frank Lucas (Washington), the man that ran Harlem in the later part of the '60s through his arrest in 1973. Lucas was a self-proclaimed renaissance man, buying heroin straight from the source in Vietnam and selling it cheaper than the competitors on the streets under the name "Blue Magic."
But that's only half the story.
Across the river, in Essex County, N.J., Richie Roberts (Crowe) is a honest, hard-working police officer whose personal life is riddled with problems from divorce, visitation rights with his son and studying for the bar exam. Roberts loses the trust of his fellow officers for being too honest after an incident, but is given a second chance when he is asked to start up the Essex County narcotics unit. His mission? To nail the kingpin behind all the dope on the streets, who just so happens to be Lucas.
"American Gangster" is director Ridley Scott's best film since "Gladiator." It's a cinematic accomplishment that certainly should be considered for the Best Picture nod at the Academy Awards. The sets are authentic and really immerse the viewer in the 1960s and '70s New York City from its storefronts, costumes, cars and language. Scott also did a great job of setting the timeline for the film. When time progresses in the movie, a TV can often be heard in the background or actually seen depicting news from the time period, be it drug problems of soldiers in Asia or Nixon talking of a ceasefire in the Vietnam War.
Despite featuring the Jay-Z song "Heart of the City" in the trailer, "American Gangster" boasts a fantastic soundtrack that moves the film well and plays on the setting from funk to a more traditional orchestrated movie score - you won't even feel the two and a half hours.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Eshey
posted 11/08/07 @ 7:19 PM EST
This story actually made me to get dressed and go to see this movie.
I'm not a fan of Crowe but I thought he was brilliant in"A Beautiful Mind".On the other hand, Denzel was my favorite actor even before "Malcomb X" plus I was teenager growing up in the 60's so I was excited to read some backround on American Gangster. (Continued…)
Post a Comment