American Gangster

[Watashi]

It isn't good at all. And this is coming from a big Ridley Scott fan who has enjoyed all his films so far this century.

It's really silly, sluggish, visually dull, and most of all, boring.

Scott takes these two dueling men and tries to connect them via opposites. Richie (Crowe) is humiliated by his fellow officers for turning in a million dollars in unmarked cash, which makes him the honest do-gooder, but is a shit parent who cheats on his wife and son. While Frank (Washington) loves his mother and brothers very much, but is one of the most lethal dope dealers in America. When they finally have their showdown, it's Ridley's own version of The Odd Couple. Uh oh, spaghettios!

This is simply Scott trying oh so hard to mimic Coppola and De Palma that he only digs at the surface level and we really don't know who these two men really are.

[Mysterious Dude]

This has been getting some pretty bad reviews. I thought about seeing it this weekend. It looks good, but Scott's movies always seem to look good in trailers. What a disappointing director.

[Kurosawa Fan]

No matter how I tried I couldn't get excited for this film. With the amount of bad press it's getting, I'll be waiting for the DVD at the very least.

[Boner M]

It has an 81% on RT and a 76 on metacritic, which doesn't really constitute bad press.

Still, Wats' reaction seems close to what the trailer promised, and I haven't liked a Scott film since Blade Runner. He's pretty vanilla.

[number8]

It isn't bad, but Wats is right that the characterizations are fairly shallow. I didn't care for Roberts at all, and Lucas was only interesting because it's Denzel swaggering a lot. I don't think it's boring, though. For a 2.5 hours it's actually pretty breezy. I do wish there were more of that excellent shootout at the end, but alas, it ain't an action film.

I'd be happy to see Scott stop trying to make something meaningful and do a Bay-ish movie.

[Ezee E]

I'd be happy to see Scott stop trying to make something meaningful and do a Bay-ish movie.

That'd actually be glorious. Back to Black Hawk Down style action.

Anyways, the characters are pretty dull, and if it weren't for two of America's best actors playing them, it would be completely uninteresting. Luckily, Crowe and Washington seem to always be watchable.

Ridley Scott does continue his great use of handling the camera. I haven't seen such good detail for a long, long time. Filmed as if it was a 70's movies, it had the look of one without overdoing it. The costumes and hair, etc. It all worked.

The best scenes in the movie all had to do with violence buildup. Hmm...

Part mafia/part police procedural. It may have been too much to handle for 2 1/2 hours I think.

[MadMan]

The closest Scott has gotten to doing a Bay-ish type film was Black Rain(1989), which is a flick I enjoy despite it being one of his weaker films.

I still want to see American Gangster, although perhaps I'll go in with more tempered expectations. If I get out to the theater at all this month, something I don't seem to do anymore.

[Silencio]

I think Ridley Scott is so concerned with simultaneously capturing a certain feel for the era he's setting his film in, and for the genre he's borrowing from and homaging too, that the film never really comes together or flows as whole, but instead, feels like a series of vignettes whose sole purpose is to cover the most crucial plot points. Indeed, it's why his characters (especially Denzel's Frank Lucas) feel more like cardboard cut-outs than living, breathing humans. Scott uses several opportunities to just focus the camera in on Washington's face and let the actor dramatically profuse some high-bravado gangster wise-talk (the whole "This is my home, my country" speech, among others). Beyond what the character of Frank Lucas stands for, Scott is not interested in further exploring. It's like the script was being filmed, but all the substance was left in the editing room.

What moral ambiguity between the two leading characters is established is just thrown away through fortune-cookie philosophy and easy conclusiveness. Scott initially downplays their similarities and heightens their differences, only two do a little switcharoo in the film's climax where we figure out that the two aren't so different after all. As for the rest of the film, it's pedestrian, conventional, derivative, and rather unengaging. Cinematography aiming for a sense of realism only goes a long way, and here, the dark lighting and grittiness just make things hard to see and unpleasant to look at. Naturally, both Denzel and Crowe are good, but only to the extent of their character's developments (or lack thereof). It isn't the absolute worst way to pass 150 minutes, but overall, American Gangster just isn't wholly satisfying.

[Briare]

I liked it well enough, the plot was fairly shallow but I enjoyed watching Crowe and Denzel well enough. Sluggish in the middle though, but very watchable anyway.

[Henry Gale]

Um... wow, this beat Bee Movie regardless of everyone's expectations.

1. American Gangster - $15,821,000 (3,054 theatres, $5,180 avg.)

2. Bee Movie - $10,179,000 (3,928 theatres, $2,591 avg.)

[Qrazy]

It has an 81% on RT and a 76 on metacritic, which doesn't really constitute bad press.

Indeed.

[number8]

Awesome. Showtime is doing a new show with Forest Whitaker about Nicky Barnes.

[DSNT]

1. American Gangster $46,344,000
2. Bee Movie $39,100,000

Impressive for this type of movie.

[Ezee E]

1. American Gangster $46,344,000
2. Bee Movie $39,100,000

Impressive for this type of movie.

I had a feeling it would do really well because it had the attention of several demographics. Bee Movie seemed to cater towards the adults for some reason, but it still did great.

I just wish it was Seinfeld in a bee costume the entire time.

[Rowland]

"American Gangster is the finest American New Wave cop procedural since The French Connection/Prince of the City/Serpico..." - Walter Chaw

I haven't seen the movie yet, but... really, Walter? He has really been liking a lot more movies this year than he did last year. In any case, I imagine he'll have a review up soon.

[eternity]

It's decent, but there's absolutely nothing special about it.

[balmakboor]

No matter how I tried I couldn't get excited for this film. With the amount of bad press it's getting, I'll be waiting for the DVD at the very least.

I'll be waiting for the DVD at the very most.

[jenniferofthejungle]

No matter how I tried I couldn't get excited for this film. With the amount of bad press it's getting, I'll be waiting for the DVD at the very least.

My brother invited me to see this today and even though I was bored at home I could not force myself to go out and see this movie.

[Qrazy]

"American Gangster is the finest American New Wave cop procedural since The French Connection/Prince of the City/Serpico..." - Walter Chaw

I haven't seen the movie yet, but... really, Walter? He has really been liking a lot more movies this year than he did last year. In any case, I imagine he'll have a review up soon.

What's Prince of the City?

[Rowland]

What's Prince of the City?

Lumet, I believe.

[balmakboor]

Lumet, I believe.

One of Lumet's very best at that. The guy has mighty high praise for American Gangster if he's favorably comparing it to those three films.

[megladon8]

It's already #115 on the IMDb top 250 list.

[Duncan]

A friend of mine said it was as good as The Godfather. I do not believe him.

[eternity]

A friend of mine said it was as good as The Godfather. I do not believe him.

Not even close.

[MadMan]

A friend of mine said it was as good as The Godfather. I do not believe him.

While I haven't seen American Gangster yet that statement is pure insanity.