Calvin's American Gangster Review

“American Gangster” follows the parallel lives of Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington, and Richie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe. Richie is one of the only uncorrupted cops and has the heavy task of bringing down Frank, who becomes a very powerful drug dealer throughout the movie. “American Gangster” is a very unique movie simply because the movie follows the path of two completely different characters and tells the story of how their lives intersect with each other.

                However, the greatest strength of the movie is also the greatest flaw. At times I was confused as to who I was supposed to be rooting for. Do I want Richie to catch Frank or do I want Frank to get away with all the crimes he committed. Every time a Frank scene started I was amazed by the poise and charisma Denzel was able to give him, and although he was a drug dealer he was very noble, and these facts caused me to hope Frank would not get caught by the cops. However, after those scenes when a Richie scene started, I was even more amazed by how much Richie was sacrificing simply to catch Frank and I wanted him to succeed at this. The actors did a wonderful job of making the audience like them; the confusion was because of the directors choices. The director, Ridley Scott, seemed to want the audience to root for Richie, but he did a bad job of actually doing this. Ridley Scott showed his true intention by trying to dehumanize Frank Lucas throughout the film so the audience could not relate to him. Frank Lucas would often brutally kill people in public spaces to simply prove a point. Unfortunate for Scott though, Denzel was still able to make his character appear human in the scenes where he was not having a temper tantrum and therefore re-humanizing him and recreating the audiences bond with him. Perhaps the script needed fixing or maybe Denzel was too likeable an actor, either way, this fatal flaw made the movie confusing to watch.

                Overall though, the movie was quite well made. It had a strong plot with strong actors to match. Best of all however was the script. I had no idea how the movie was going to end until the movie actually ended. This may have been caused by mistake, because of what I previously complained about, but watching a movie that doesn’t have a clear plot line can be a real treat whether it was done on purpose or not. “American Gangster” is the unique mix of a gangster movie and a detective movie.