I think it’s a fair statement to say that the mob movie has attracted its fair share of celebrated auteurs. Obviously the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese have pitched in more than once to make the genre what it is, but the likes of Brian De Palma and Mike Newell have also ensured that a chillingly seductive rise to power never seem to lose its allure. However, in 2007, a rather curious filmmaker you wouldn’t immediately think of to tackle such things chose to throw his hat into an already crowded ring.
Despite the sheer number of genres that Ridley Scott has thus far conquered, the crime movie isn’t one that initially feels like a good fit for the man who has routinely remade the historical epic and sci-fi in his own image. Yet, when Scott’s hot, he’s undeniably hot and whenever he can find a script to match those luscious visuals of his, he’s pretty tough to beat. So can the man who gave us Alien, Gladiator and Hovis ads, deliver a crime film for the ages?
The year is 1968, and Harlem crime boss Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson dies of a heart attack leaving plenty of territory for both his friends and enemies to pick apart. However, one name no one was expecting to step up and make something of themselves was Frank Lucas, Bumpy’s chauffeur and bodyguard, who, after years of learning at the kingpin’s right hand, decides to take everything he’s been taught and claim the streets for himself. His first order of business is to smartly enter the heroin trade by buying it directly from it’s producers in Thailand and ingeniously smuggling it into the U.S. via servicemen returning from the Vietnam war. He also chooses to sell it in the streets pure at an affordable price under the brand name “Blue Magic”, which soon helps to eliminate his competitors – well, the ones he doesn’t shoot in the face, anyway.
Meanwhile, while Frank is ascending to the top of the drug trade and reaping the rewards, unnaturally honest Newark detective, Richie Roberts, finds himself alienated and despised by his suspicious fellow cops when he turns in a millon dollar haul found in a mobster’s car without taking a single penny for himself. Similarly, Richie has the same attitude to his junkie partner, and due to this diligent honesty, Richie eventually finds himself in charge of a special task force assembled to specifically target major drug suppliers.
This means that two very flawed, but strangely honest men will soon be going head to head to claim the streets. Richie may have the urge to fuck anything with a skirt and a heartbeat, and is embroiled in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, but when it comes to the law, he’s a stand up guy. Similarly, while Frank Lucas is admittedly a murderous mob boss who supplies the streets with heroin, he’s loyal and has his own code when it comes to business. Can Richie manage to out manuver the smart and careful Frank in a world where everyone around them proves to be more corrupt that they are?
To make a crime flick like American Gangster, you have to have an eye for detail. The time period, the clothes, the labyrinthine minutiae of how the drug business actually works, from the foreign purchase to the drug entering some junkie’s arm, it’s all imperative when creating such an unpredictable world and if any filmmaker is fluent in such cinematic language, it’s the man who created the world of Blade Runner. However, just because Scott can juggle such things like a pro, it doesn’t mean American Gangster was a dead cert, as a previous attempt of Scott to straddle the crime genre – 1989’s Black Rain – remains somewhat forgotten today. Of course, the story of Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts doesn’t involve Michael Douglas trying to bring down the Yakuza by saying “babe” a lot, so right off the bat, American Gangster has something of a leg up. But be warned, even in realms of cinema that redefines the notion of the epic crime opera, Scott’s opus is a whole lot of movie.
If you were to judge the film from it’s Scarface-esque poster, you’d be mistaken for thinking that the whole movie is a tense face-off between outlaw and lawman as they both dance with one another to get their rival off the streets. However, Scott is so interested in making this slice of cops and crooks so epic and locked into the worlds these two men operate in, both Denzel Washington’s Frank and Russell Crowe’s Richie are literally kept completely apart for the vast majority of the film. In fact, Richie doesn’t even figure out that Frank even exists until about and hour and twenty into the movie, so anyone expecting a replay of their rivalry from ludicrous sci-fi actioner, Virtuosity (where Crowe played a villainous computer program who escapes into the real world), will be severely disappointed.
Still, aside from the six people who liked Virtuosity, every one else is in for a legitimate treat. While Ridley doesn’t exactly reinvent the crime movie wheel in the shadow of Scorsese and De Palma, his attention to detail endures that the dense plot and distractingly familiar cast means that the film moves like lightning despite having an intimidating amount of moving parts. While the rare sight of Washington playing a bad guy was still fresh in our minds thanks to Training Day, Denzel is wise to keep Frank Lucas well away from Alonzo Harries when presenting us with another charismatic, African American crime boss. Far more noble, and certainly more conservatively dressed, he’s a great foil for Crowe’s blue collar, yet deceptively righteous, detective. However, the rest of the cast is so recognisable, there are times where you’re in danger of getting dazzled by all the familiar faces on display. Filling out a formidable cast sheet are the likes of Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejofor, Norman Reedus, Carla Gugino, Idris Elba, Ted Levine, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, Cuba Gooding Jr. and many more, and it’s a weird complaint to make that you genuinely miss major story points because you’re too busy going “oh hey, it’s that guy!” every ten minutes.
However, a genuine complaint that could be leveled at the film is that Scott is so dedicated getting these “inspired by true events” on screen, that an actual sense of character is lost in the mix due to the epic amounts of plot and detail that the story has to get through. As a result, both Frank and Richie just feel more like a collection of stock character traits rather than actual living people, but considering both Washington and Crowe deliver said tropes extraordinarily well, it’s pretty tough to complain. Similarly, Scott doesn’t actually add anything particularly new to the crime movie, but his style and his tone are on point as he delivers this complex tale with all the visual chutzpah his veteran eye can muster.
Ridley Scott delivers a rock solid crime drama by focusing on the details and letting his absurdly loaded cast deal with the rest. While those looking for something more fiercely original may feel that Scott’s playing the mob movie hits a big too much, the mixture of his visuals, plus the sight of Washington and Russell (sort of) going head to head proves that in this case, crime indeed does pay…
