As a person who grew up in New York City and spent a great deal of their childhood in Harlem, I was very curious to see American Gangster. I’ve been a fan of film director Ridley Scott’s since Blade Runner and Alien and I think highly of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. However, as any moviegoer will agree, you must always be wary of Hollywood.
I was so afraid that this was going to be yet another movie were drugs, dealers, murderers and criminals are romanticized. Fortunately that wasn’t the case. I’ve seen first hand the devastation Frank Lucas and his legacy has left on the African American community in New York City and beyond. I think the two most powerful scenes in the movie show that.
Immediately after the viewer sees Frank Lucas (Denzel), his gorgeous Puerto Rican beauty queen wife, Eva (Lymari Nadal), Mother (Ruby Dee) and entire extended family, eating a Thanksgiving dinner in their palatial home – a beautiful portrait of family, wealth, success and the American Dream – director Ridley Scott cuts away to scenes of heroin addicts overdosing in squalor from Frank’s “product”, blue magic.
The other is the ending, which perfectly illustrates without words, how that monster, that utterly vile man, had deeply hurt his own people. Between those points, all involved created an engrossing and well acted movie that will certainly see nominations and, maybe, even a few awards. Russell Crowe is brilliant as usual, so is Denzel Washington. Although she doesn’t have much to do except look concerned, I liked Lymari Nadal and also Josh Brolin as sleazy crooked cop, Detective Trupo.
Ridley Scott does such a great job directing. He and Denzel Washington don’t gloss over Frank Lucas, but they don’t present him as a one-dimensional caricature, either. I thought the portrayal of Lucas as someone who thought of himself as just an ordinary businessman, was very interesting. Lucas was as mundane an accountant. Except he often blew people’s brains out. This is definitely the best depiction of a celluloid gangster since Marlon Brando’s Don Vito Corleone and the acting and direction make American Gangster a truly classic crime movie.
