It has been a long time since a movie has seen the kind of advance hype that "American Gangster" has enjoyed. If you own a television you have probably been seeing (or fast forwarding through) commercials for it for months. If you venture out to the movies, it's a darn good bet that you've seen the trailer on multiple occasions. Universal Pictures has sunk a fortune into the marketing machine for this particular picture but don't worry about them. They should have no trouble recouping their money. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe put rear ends in movie seats.
Ridley Scott, the film's director, has had an outstanding and prolific career, including "Alien," "Blade Runner" and "Gladiator." This time out he attempts to outdo himself and the results are way over the top, and not in a good way. Not content to direct his version of the American crime epic a la, "The Godfather" or "Goodfellas," Mr. Scott also sets his sights on the great Vietnam War flicks like "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon." But he doesn't make the war the star. He simply uses it as a backdrop for its relation to drug crimes in America. In other moments, he conjures up "Serpico" and "Once Upon a Time in America." There are echoes and tributes (intentional or otherwise) to plenty of outstanding films. Perhaps this is why "American Gangster" comes in at a long 157 minutes - when you're trying to incorporate pieces of ten different movies into one it's hard to keep it under two hours.
The story (based on true characters and events) is not spectacular but it is solid. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is an American success story. His success is that he has risen to heights that take him soaring past the Mafia, no mean feat for anyone, let alone an African-American whose origins were of no help to him in his journey. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is Frank's nemesis, the stereotypical cop who doesn't quite fit in among his brethren. Richie is a failure in his personal life - too honest for his own good - while Frank is a force of nature that is seemingly unstoppable. Richie attempts the unlikely task of bringing Frank down, and you would think this should set the stage for an exciting clash of personalities and wills. But the results could not be less dynamic.
"American Gangster" must have looked a whole lot better in theory than it came out in reality. There is virtually no tension, no emotional involvement with the viewer. No "connection." The film is being hyped as an epic, and that it is - an epic failure. It's akin to watching something only because it has been put in front of you and you have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. Do yourself a favor and find somewhere else to go and find something at least mildly entertaining to do. Like maybe taking a nap. Your time would be better spent.
