American Gangster shouldn't work but does. One may credit this mainly to Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington but the main credit should be given to the screenwriters and Ridley Scott for having the courage to not overplay his hand early. Washington is Frank Lucas, a loyal and entrepreneurial New York hoodlum. Through accident and guile he discovers a way to import incredibly powerful drugs into New York City. Crowe is Richie Roberts, a Jewish cop that's a complete fuck-up in most things but an excellent detective. Most of the film builds the characters slowly and, indeed, they don't really cross paths unfortunately til the very end. But it can't be said the movie is just a character piece. A lot is occurring here.
Scott is attacking and indicting American business, the legal estbalishment (shown as endlessly corrupt here), racism, the Nixon Administration, and perverted patriotism. But what makes the film succeeds is the way these points are made gently. There are inevitable drawbacks - except for a surprise here and there - Scott adheres to the Quentin Tarantino soundtrack book and uses songs in almost mechanical fashion to inspire the right mood at the right time. The Public Enemy music at the end is especially apt. It also has to be admitted the acting though stellar is rather disappointing.
Washington has played evil men before so there are no surprises here. And Crowe like his Nash character looks too physically powerful to play the Jewish underdog. That said, these are minor quibbles and given the impressive time Scott uses, American Gangster avoids most of the cop/crime cliches the genre has accumulated and penetrates some truly dark, scary, and thrilling depths about recent American history.
No comments:
Post a Comment