Just following procedurals
The latest Ridley Scott movie, sadly, has no aliens, blade runners or gladiators, but it has Denzel Washington and Scott’s muse Russell Crowe playing cops and gangsters in a story apparently based on real people. Set in the Seventies, the movie chronicles the quick rise and fall of drug lord Frank Lucas (Washington), and the man behind his undoing, Detective Richie Roberts (Crowe). After succeeding his boss, Harlem godfather Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson (Clarence Williams III), Lucas travelled to the East to secure a direct supply for his drug trade, and cut out the middle men, the Italian mob. The marketing-savvy Lucas sold his self-branded drug for half the price and twice the purity, but his overnight success soon caught Roberts’ attention. Alienated by fellow law enforcers for being too “honest” a cop, Roberts was singled out for a special assignment – to weed out corruption, both on the streets, and in the precinct.
Part police procedural, part The Godfather, American Gangster is an entertaining, though not a very accurate account of Lucas’ criminal career. The real-life cops depicted in the movie are furious that they’re portrayed as corrupt, and claimed that the crackdown on corrupt law enforcers shown in the movie never took place. (There are other factual misrepresentations, but I won’t list them here since you can easily find them all on the internet.) I wonder if people felt similarly shortchanged when fictional character Maximus killed Emperor Commodus in Gladiator, because historical fact says that some wrestling type was supposed to have done the honours instead. But understandably, neither Commodus nor the wrestler is alive today, or they would have been just as pissed.
My qualm with the movie is not in the facts. Like Miami Vice, it adheres strictly to the standards of good procedurals like The French Connection, and borrows some elements from other movies like L.A. Confidential for good measure. But for a Ridley Scott movie, it lacks the director’s stylistic inclinations seen in his other movies like Blade Runner, Legend and even Gladiator. It’s possible that the outcome would have been just the same if the movie was in the hands of directors like William Friedkin, Michael Mann or even David Fincher (he also employed a similarly un-flashy approach for his Zodiac).
But I’m not trying to be a spoilsport here. American Gangster is still a taut thriller with great moments and fine performances from the casts, and is definitely worth a watch. - BMF
P.S. Just interesting to note that during the showing of Scott's American Gangster, playing next door was Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem, a defilement of a cinematic legacy started by Scott. Funnily, AVP:R also stars John Ortiz (as the sheriff), who plays Roberts' partner, Rivera in American Gangster.
For the record:
Blade Runner > Alien > Gladiator > American Gangster > Black Hawk Down > Black Rain > Hannibal
Another Denzel vs Russell movie: Virtuosity (1995)
Directed by Ridley Scott (A Good Year, Kingdom of Heaven) and screenplay by Steven Zaillian (All the King's Men, The Interpreter). Stars Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, RZA, Ruby Dee, Carla Gugino, John Ortiz, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Armand Assante, Joe Morton, Jon Polito and Ric Young. Based on a New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson. |
