American Gangster opened in theatres nationwide on November 2. There was already much hype associated with this new film starring Denzel Washington and co-starring Russell Crowe. But if Denzel were stock I would predict a bull run all the way up to the 2008 Oscars and beyond, and that would include a best film nomination for American Gangster.
That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: I am hearing on the streets from Chicago to Texas everybody and his momma has seen it — only not in a theater! But from the latest figures, that will probably not hurt a predicted $47 million dollar opening weekend take.
Overall I would give a grade of A- because of nearly perfect performances all around which highlight this soon-to-be classic tale of Mafia-style gang-banging in America. I found every performance in every role, both small and great, to be great. We anticipate the climax which occurs when Denzel Washington’s Frank Lucas meets face to face with Russell Crowe’s Richie Roberts in the last 25 minutes of the film. The rest of the movie builds momentum at a good pace, taking the viewer from the jungles of Thailand to the gritty reality of project life in New York where one of the apartments has been rehabbed to resemble a smoke-filled drug factory funky with slim naked black bodies cutting, repackaging, and reselling nearly pure heroin under the “trade name” “Blue Magic.” A recipe for a great story well told.
But before the two protagonists meet, collaborate, and prosecute bad NYPD cops and bad (white) criminals, one has the real meat of the film itself; about 75% of the movie is about Lucas’s rise to drug lord extraordinaire, his private rages when employees (read relatives) make what he believes to be critical errors. He is relentless in his spontaneous rage over bad outcomes.
The film opens in Harlem with Bumpy Johnson dying in an electronics store with his driver of 18 years, Frank Lucas, by his side. As provided by a recent Charlie Rose interview, the real Frank Lucas and former lawyer Richie Roberts (now long-time friends) and writers told exactly how the evolution of Lucas came to be: he had a master businessman/criminal as teacher. His teacher learned directly from the Italian Mafia, mimicked and handed down the core of its success.
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