American Gangster (2007)

"I got Harlem. I took care of Harlem, Harlem's gonna take care of me."

plot: In the 1970s, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) became one of the biggest distributors of narcotics in America thanks to a system where he smuggles in heroin through the coffins of dead U.S. soldiers. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is one of the only honest cops in Newark and is assigned to bring down the drug trade.

I actually finally watches this movie, too, late last year or early this year. I don't mind watching it again, as I enjoyed it. However, it was sort of lacking a certain "oomph" in my opinion, in order to make it really great in my eyes.

This movie has been in development for a while, and was originally going to be directed by the helmer of Training Day Antoine Fuqua under the name "Blue Magic." Blue Magic is the street name for the cheap and potent heroin Lucas peddles. I may be a sucker for weird, artsy names, but I think I would have preferred that name over American Gangster, which kind of sounds generic to me.

First of all... man this movie was long. I try to make a habit of always watching the extended, director's cuts because that's what I assume is the closest to the artistic "true" vision, which meant I spent almost three hours on this bad boy. Three hours! It wasn't that long ago that I was scoffing at different people's opinions on long movies. They seemed to cringe at excessive running times, and would imply that if you can't get in and out in under two hours, then something was the matter. I don't know what it is, but lately I'm inclined to agree with them. I obviously had to split this up across multiple days, as there's about a week's difference between my last post and this one.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this movie. There are surprisingly good performances all around. Obviously you have dependable stalwarts like Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Kevin Corrigan, Ted Levine... but you also had unrecognizable turns by the RZA and TI. RZA is quickly becoming one of the coolest dudes in the galaxy by scoring Kill Bill and apparently The Mindscape of Alan Moore (!!!) and acting in Funny People and Coffee & Cigarettes. Plus, he was in Wu. TI is a mainstream rapper. I mean, I enjoy him, I own his album Paper Trail, but you don't really expect rappers to blend in to their characters and change themselves as drastically as he does. TI goes from a young braggadocio to an awkward, gawky kid mixed up and in over his head. It's quite remarkable. He could be the best rapper/actor since Mos Def.

There's a sort of weird disconnect with this movie, because while epic in scope, it seems to be really character-based. Frank Lucas is a guy that ships heroin directly from Southeastern Asia, in the coffins of U.S. soldiers, and distributes it all over at least the northeastern United States, but you only briefly see glimpses of his impact, such as the powerful Thanksgiving scene intercutting his warm family celebration with Roberts' lonely bachelor one and the even lonelier demises of several junkies.

Frank is an interesting character himself. Washington kind of plays him as a joyless man, someone who doesn't take any enjoyment out of the vast money and opportunities given. The phrase "The Great Stone Face" (Buster Keaton's nickname) kept popping into my head. Lucas just seems to have a permanent dour expression, as if somewhere in the back of his mind he knows where this is going to end up, and he's powerless to stop it. It reminded me of the title character in Peter Milligan's Skreemer. Most gangster movies work as a sort of wish fulfillment for the frustrated underclass. Society's downtrodden is invited to live vicariously through Tony Montana and his ilk as they stick it to Big Business and The Man as they shed their former shabby origins and embrace the high-living, quick-fingered sharp-dressed life of being a rock star, until The Man and Big Business reminds the antihero and the viewer that it's really best to stick where you came from lest you get riddled with bullets or sent away for the rest of your natural life. However, even as he's schmoozing with old boxers and meeting beautiful Puerto Ricans, Frank Lucas is ever aware of the constant threats to his life and livelihood, and as such realizes that he can never be free no matter where he is.

This is an interesting movie about subjects I'm fascinated by (drugs and organized crime), if just a little grim and long for my current mood, at least. Speaking of grim, this is the actual husband of the former Miss Puerto Rico in the film:

Thirty-one year age difference, she's younger than her step-children. Hope for all kinds, I guess.