CULT DVD Review

 American Gangster

 Overall: 54%

 Feature: 70%

 Extras: 22%

Top 1000 Disc

 

American Gangster (2007)

Ridley Scott was an unusual choice to depict this true tale of a big time drug runner in ‘70s New York and the cop who brought him down. Scott is more at home depicting vast, visual epics of distant past or future lands. So naturally he isn’t really the go-to man to bring a very character based crime drama to the screen which is reminiscent of Henry Hill’s story in Goodfellas. Where the film succeeds not unsurprisingly is in the detail of the depiction of a time and place. Scott always has a strong handle on the mise-en-scene of his films and here it certainly benefits from the director’s talents. Where it lacks unfortunately is in finding much pizzazz in the characters, despite two strong leads.

Denzel Washington is very well cast and gives a more restrained performance than he has given of late as drug kingpin Frank Lucas. It suits the character well as Lucas is a man constantly thinking two moves ahead and keeping his cards close to his hands. His outbursts of violence and anger are excellent depictions of a wild animal forced into a corner. Meanwhile Russell Crowe is also a little more laid back than usual in his depiction of federal investigator Richie Roberts. However a little too much time is spent on Roberts in the film and I don’t particularly think so much time was needed on his side of the tale. His back-story (involving ex-wife Carla Gugino) seems awfully tagged on in an attempt to try and bring more character to the part. What it does do simply is slow the film down.

The film follows Lucas who spots an opening in the drug-dealing market by cutting out the middle man and getting his drugs straight from Vietnam, thanks to the help of some corrupt army officials. As the money rolls in, Lucas and his brother, Huey (Chiwetel Ejiofor) attempt to keep a low profile however he catches the eye of other local crime big wigs including the Mafia and even corrupt police officers, lead by Josh Brolin’s sleazy enforcer. Meanwhile Roberts is planning the downfall of Lucas despite facing opposition from people within the force who seem to be in Lucas’ pocket.

It has a good set-up for sure but Scott’s direction is unusually rather pedestrian. It’s like his attempt at copying Scorsese, but he doesn’t have the style of that director and his film just comes across rather cold and flat. The film is helped by Washington’s strong performance and some well cast supporting roles (Clarence Williams III, Cuba Gooding Jr, Armand Assante, Ruby Dee and especially Brolin) but the epic running time is unjustified. It is a strong movie on the strength of the players involved, script is by Schindler’s List scribe Steve Zaillan, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the big players of this genre.  

Extras:

Extended Edition

As if the film wasn’t long enough on this disc is an extra 18 minutes of the film if you so desire, it’s particularly notable for a rather poor ending which should remain cut.

Commentary with Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillan

Not particularly entertaining but a fine, informative commentary nonetheless. Fans of the film will enjoy but Scott can be a rather droll commentator. Perhaps would have worked better if director and screenwriter had been recorded together.

FEATURE: 70%

EXTRAS: 22%

OVERALL: 54%

An alright film but a rather lacklustre disc, seek out the Blu-Ray for better special features.  

Stewart McLaren

 

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