Two Sides to Every Story

Ever since Edward G. Robinson cried those immortal words "Is this the end of Rico", American movies have been in love with the gangster. But in a genre that has now given us films like "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", and shows like "The Sopranos", how much is there left to tell us. I think "American Gangster" tries to tread new territory but it turns into the same old story we are used to.

Denzel Washington stars as real life gangster Frank Lucas, a man who controlled the criminal underworld of Harlem all through the Vietnam war. His main source of income was from smuggling drugs out of Vietnam and onto the streets of Harlem, how he does that is ingenious and is no wonder he wasn't caught sooner. But the man on Lucas' tail is a tough honest cop named Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe). Richie may be a good cop but we find out he's a screw up with everything else. Throughout the film Richie is shown as someone who can't hold a relationship together, he's constantly having casual sex all the while trying to battle his ex-wife over custody of their son. He is alienated by fellow policemen for not accepting bribes, and is criticized for hanging out with old school friends who have become criminals. What redeems Richie is he's honest.

Meanwhile Frank is a cold-blooded murderer, but he's a man who loves his family, particularly his mother and wife. He's a man who has it all together and has no problem with what he's doing. We see a stark contrast between the two men as Frank is shown having thanksgiving dinner with his family in his large mansion, while Richie is alone in his apartment having a turkey and potato chip sandwich, obviously in this world it doesn't pay to be honest, but it does to be a criminal.

These two characters are very compelling, in fact I think they are too compelling, sometimes I wish they had their own separate movies so we could learn more about them. Richie seems to be the most interesting character simply because he seems to be the one trapped the most by his own flaws. Lucas just seems to be living the "Scarface" high life until (as gangster convention has taught us) his kingdom comes to an end.

Even though I thought Richie's story was more interesting, I felt that this really should've been Frank's show all the way. The life of a black gangster's rise to power is rarely seen in films and it could've stood on its own as a great movie, but some energy is missing in these scenes, I felt I didn't really understand what makes Frank's world different from that of Tony Montana's, but perhaps the point is there isn't much of a difference.

The film itself is very entertaining with two of our greatest leading men showing you why they are so great. We also get great support from Cuba Gooding Jr. as one of Frank's rivals, Josh Brolin as a corrupt cop, and Ruby Dee as Frank's mother. Director Ridley Scott keeps the story going for the most part and gives us a lot of exciting scenes that make us look up and pay attention. Perhaps the one scene that gave me a glimmer of hope that this movie was to be great was when Frank is seen sitting in a cafe with his brothers, then suddenly he sees a man who owes him money on the street. Frank comes out of the cafe and shoots the man point blank in the head in front of dozens of witnesses, and calmly sits back down to eat. It's probably the best example of Frank's power in the city, and I only wish there was more of that.

In the end "American Gangster" never ceases to entertain, but it's really telling us nothing we didn't know before.

3 stars out of 4