Adam Kuhn & The Movies: American Gangster
Synopsis: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer, Steve Zaillian and Ridley Scott team to tell the true juggernaut success story of a cult hero from the streets of 1970s Harlem in American Gangster.
Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas, the quiet driver to one of the inner city’s leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city’s mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars.
Richie Roberts is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top.
My Take:
Denzel Washington is made for rolls like this. With a story line not too dissimilar to Blow, Washington and Crowe bring the story to life quite well. There are no happy endings or sudden surprises, just an intricate and detailed plot that tells the story of an up and rising drug kingpin.
You won’t find any special effects in this film, just a bit of makeup for gun wounds. However, the period this film takes place is in the 1970’s, and the set designers and costume artists did their jobs well. What I really liked is Frank Lucas’s wardrobe compared to his henchmen’s. Another thing that stood out is the realness of gunshots. Bullets don’t stop when they hit the steel door of a car, they go right through and out the other side – the realness and attention to detail in the film is great.
This is a great movie and easy to watch anytime with anyone.
My Beefs: There really isn’t much wrong with this movie. Actually, I would have liked it to be a bit longer, with more details and perhaps a bit more of the Bumpy Johnson story that is told in the beginning of the film.
Kuhnometer: 9 / 11
Trailer
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