Bloodtype Online

    Genre film fans around the world are certain to be familiar with director Ridley Scott.  After all he was the man behind the camera in such great genre films like "Alien", "Hannibal", and "Blade Runner".  So I guess it's not too surprising when I heard that he was directing a new film with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe about the New York drug kingpin Frank Lucas that I would be interested.  Although I missed it during its theatrical run it's now out on DVD (in a two disc special edition package) from Universal Studios. 

    "American Gangster" is the story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) a New York City kingpin of drugs and organized crime and his ascension to the top of the drug food chain in the late 1960's into the 1970's.  But there's Boy Scout detective Richie Roberts hot on the trail of the drug scene in New York creeping up on Frank and his associates with the help of a crack team of investigators.  We see Frank getting his start with his boss Bumpy Johnson (played by Clarence Williams III in an uncredited role) and him essentially take over the street drug trade after Bumpy passed.  But what made Frank into the kingpin that he would become was the fact that he had a connection to Bankok because of the Vietnam War, allowing him to transport straight uncut heroin into the United States.  This allows him to put out a drug product better than his competition at a lower price, angering many of the other steady drug kingpin's of that time period.  The thing that's easily the most fascinating part of all of this is that this is a true story. 

    This movie was downright fascinating from start to finish as you can pretty much see that the Frank Lucas character was going into evolve into so much more.  But the fact of the matter is that Scott along with screenwriter Steven Zaillian painted an interesting picture along the way that really brings the story off the page.  Not only that but you will find yourself equally entrenched in the story going on around Detective Richie Roberts in the movie too.  But the major payoff is when both stories collide and you find yourself actually kind of pulling for both of them.  It's a very interesting contrast and it was also refreshing to see a movie that basically paints people for who they are and not what they are.  In this movie you have criminals with morals, cops that have none, and everything in between.  That to me had to be an insane time to be either or in the city that never sleeps during the time period, which makes NYC at that time and place one of the most unique areas of the world let alone the Unites States. 

    We get absolutely fantastic acting performances in this one as well starting with Denzel Washington playing Frank Lucas.  He was chilling at times and actually relatable at others and it's hard to believe that the character he was portraying was at one time considered by many to be one of the most dangerous people in New York state at the time.  But it was commendable that they didn't make the character the complete good guy in the tale only showing the good side of organized crime.  The movie doesn't try and use the character of Frank Lucas to win you over, it's simply just displaying it for you to see and judge for yourself.  The same can be said for Russell Crowe's character Richie Roberts.  He is a determined police officer who is considered to be a good guy as he and his partner returned a million dollars in unmarked bills into the police when most cops would have kept it.  But at the same time he's basically a bad husband and a deadbeat dad.  I love how they used that in the film as it's just another example of keeping the characters human and realistic.  But there are two performances in the movie that stick out and I haven't heard really any mention of the great work both actors employed in the movie.  First off you have actor Cuba Gooding Jr. playing the role of Harlem drug lord Nicky Barnes in a role that honestly I think was worthy of a Supporting Actor nod from the Oscars, but unfortunately he went unrecognized.  Note to anyone, if you ever make a movie about Nicky Barnes you already have your man in Gooding Jr.  He was fantastic in the role and deserves some credit for pulling it off.  It should also be noted that Josh Brolin turns up here as the dirty cop Detective Trupo from the New York City police department.  He gives a wonderful performance and is a totally memorable part of the movie even though he has a lot less screen time than Washington and Crowe. 

    I also wanted to mention that Ridley Scott did a great job at portraying New York the way that it was at the time.  Everything truly came to look authentic and the attention to detail is certainly there.  This had to be a tricky movie to make considering the local has changed so much since the time period the movie takes place in so kudos to them for getting it right.

    Overall I highly recommend this movie as it's one of the overall best films I've seen of 2007.  Scott is a great director and the cast here is exceptional.  Not only that but it's just a very compelling piece of cinema.  Although much more serious and not as exploitive this one reminded me of a more conscious version of the Larry Cohen film from 1975 entitled "Black Caesar".  Pick this one up today!

Rating - ***1/2

-Ed Demko