INSTEP Magzine

When Ridley Scott directs a movie, you pay attention. When Russell Crowe gets the role of a cop who won't compromise on his principles under any circumstances, your curiosity is raised some more. And when Denzel Washington plays a ruthless gangster from Harlem you are even more interested. But when these three statements are about the same movie, it becomes one of the most awaited films of the year.

American Gangster was released across the cinemas in US on November and is now available in Pakistan on an excellent print. The impressive credentials of the cast and the man behind the camera, leave no doubt that it will be a film that most of the movie watchers in Pakistan would be seeing this winter.

The inspiration for the film came from an article published in the New York magazine in August of 2000. The article titled 'The Return of the Superfly' was written by Mark Jacobson and gave an in depth profile of Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin in Harlem during the seventies.

In American Gangster, Frank Lucas is played by Denzel Washington. When we see him at the start of the movie he is the driver to one of the crime bosses of Harlem, Bumpy Johnson. He has held the job for many years and Bumpy has been his mentor in more ways than one. When Bumpy suddenly dies, Frank senses the opening in the power structure and smoothes in. The commodity that he focuses on is heroin. He buys it directly from the producers in East Asia and uses planes belonging to US armed forces stationed in Vietnam for transport. The result is a purer product that he can sell at a cheaper rate. In only a short time he outplays all the other leading crime syndicates and becomes one of the city's social elites.

Frank Lucas's astonishing rise to power is a good enough plot for a Hollywood production but the film has more to offer. Through the use of parallel narrative Ridley Scott also traces the life of police detective Richie Roberts, the man who eventually brought down the Lucas empire. Roberts, played by Russell Crowe, is a police man with an obsessive dedication to his profession and an even more rigorous moral code. At one point in his career he turns in a million dollars just because "it was the right thing to do" whereas the usual practice would be to share it among his colleagues. His fight is as much against the criminals on the street as against the rampant corruption within the police department.

The film runs a lengthy two hours and forty minutes but to the director's credit the narrative never seems to drag. The characterization of Frank Lucas is impressive. The unique thing about Lucas's life was its glaring similarity to the life of any ordinary business man and Ridley Scott manages to capture that. Scenes of violence are shot in a matter of fact way without the usual glamorization of Hollywood. Ridley Scott does even a better job of bringing out the similarities in Frank and Robert's characters. This adds further depth to the film. Both of them are anomalous in their field of work.

Lucas is a black man in a business run by the exclusively white mafia whereas Roberts is an honest man in a department renowned for its corruption. Both strive to maintain a low profile, take their work religiously and do not bend in the face of opposition. The film's finale shows that more than anything else these are two intelligent men who happen to be on the opposite side of the law.

In Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the film has two of the most talented actors of their generation as leading men. Their performances are nothing short of what we have come to expect from these two gifted actors. During the last few years Denzel Washington has been disappointing in his choice of films as well as the lack of intensity in his acting. With American Gangster he is surely back to his best. With a raised eye brow here and a lowering of the lip there, he exudes ruthlessness beneath the smooth exterior. It will not come as a surprise if he gets nominated for this performance.

Russell Crowe has less time on the screen as well as the less glamorous role. But he makes the most of it. He is said to have listened to the tapes of the original detective Roberts to capture his voice and mannerisms. The result is a Roberts who has a world weary demeanor but an inherent fastidiousness which does not allow him to compromise.

Where the film fails, and it is a great failing, is in its total lack of originality. It falls prey to clichés which we have seen time and again. Robert's troubled domestic life is a case in point. We can sympathize with the wife but that is not the story that should be told here. The Lucas household, although more colorful, is still beset with stereotypes.
No film exists in a vacuum. Every production is an addition to the history of cinema. It owes something to all the films that have been made before and tries to give something to those that will follow. There is a long list of great gangster movies from Hollywood. From the classic Angels With Dirty Faces to GoodFellas. This film is but a mere shadow of them.
It can certainly not be placed in the mantle of the truly great films. Having said that, it is still one of the better films of this year and certainly worth a watch.
- Zaidan Idrees

*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME