HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    I wanted to see this movie as soon as it came out, because I love me some gangster movies and I love me some Denzel. I could only hope this movie would be good, because hope was all I had... you know because I hadn't watched it yet...

ACTING

    DENZEL WASHINGTON was fantastic in this movie, we all know he usually puts in a strong performance but this was top notch. I love when he plays evil roles, or roles with a lot of malice. In fact if I had to pick my favorite roles that he has done I would have to pick Training Day, Man On Fire, and now American Gangster. He was ruthless, he was bad-ass, but he did it all while being a gentleman.
    RUSSELL CROWE was good as well, but not as good as Washington was this time around. I didn't like his New Jersey accent, it kept slipping into Australian, which I know is where he is from, but I found it distracting. Other than that though, he too put in a strong performance, I just wish there would have been more scenes where Crowe and Washington could have acted off of each other.
    TED LEVINE is a mystery to me, he is probably most known for his role on the awesome TV show Monk. He is probably most easily identifiable by his trademark bushy mustache. So why, oh why, is that when he is cast in a movie about the 70's, a time when the mustache was king mind you, did he choose to go bald as the day he was born. I am not saying he needs to always have a mustache, but for him to shave it off when it would finally be appropriate? I just don't get it! I like Ted Levine though, he is good people, mustache or not.
    THE SUPPORTING CAST was full of rappers, Cuba Gooding Jr. and of course Ruby Dee, who didn't even get a box credit. She got the last laugh though, she was the only one to get an Academy Award nomination. The only thing I want to say about Ruby Dee is that she looked so much like Yoda in this movie it was almost unbelievable. There is a scene where she slaps Denzel and says that even she knows you don't go killing cops. She looked so much like Yoda during the scene where he says "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." Of course it didn't help that Frank Oz had his hand up her dress the entire scene either.

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    RIDLEY SCOTT directed this movie well for the most part, but I think there were some pacing issues. It seemed like there was a lot of time devoted to the build up, and not much time devoted to the beginning or the conclusion. As a result the movie seemed to sag a little in the middle. For the most part though this was a strong movie throughout.
    STEVEN ZAILLIAN did a great job with this script, it wasn't as good as The Godfather but it shared some common themes that I enjoyed. First of all the Frank Lucas character had that politeness and calm that could be shattered in a second and be replaced with rage and kicking someone's shit in. I also liked how the main character seemed like some sort of patriot, he kept going on about how this was America and he was living the American dream. Like he was entitled to be a bad guy because in America you can be what ever you want. I just really liked the themes and the Frank Lucas character a lot.

THE VERDICT

    This was a great movie, if you love gangster movies then you should definitely see this one, it is not as good as The Godfather or anything, but it is a solid movie. While the movie is a bit on the long side, it is definitely worth the time spent.
 
 

RATING: B

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