American Gangster

I am an unabashed Ridley Scott fan. I own 5 of his films and still need to pick up the underrated Black Rain and his classic Alien on DVD. Scott even manages to elevate his lesser material with his skill as a director as in Kingdom of Heaven and Thelma and Louise. I have a distinct feeling that overrated and craptastic Steven Zaillian's screenplay is much to blame here for American Gangster's startling mediocrity.

Our tale is that of Frank Lucas's (Denzel Washington) rise to top of the heroin game in NYC circa 1968. Lucas had great success by going direct to the maker in Thailand and importing it in under the noses of DEA. The other half of the story is about straight arrow cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). Roberts is put in charge of a task force to stop the flow of drugs into the country.

That's probably enough of a setup since there isn't a whole lot of surprises or anything that sets it apart from any other drug/cop stories. Washingston is adequate here although it would have been an interesting to the previously casted Don Cheadle tear into this material. With that being said, Crowe can do this material in his sleep. He and Ridley are good friends and that no doubt drew him to this role, but the fact of the matter he is simply too good for this script. Scott does do a perfect job of casting some of the smaller parts with a TGE personal favorites John Hawkes (Deadwood) and Carla Gugino. Also nice in smaller roles are Ted Levine as Roberts boss and Josh Brolin (who had a Jude Law case of overexposure last year) as a rival cop up to his waist in dirt.

American Gangster is a well made film no question, but there is nothing stand out about it. I'm really surprised how many critics who have lavished this film with praise. With the pedigrees behind this film, I expected more. Don't expect to see American Gangster on my DVD shelf with Blade Runner and Blackhawk Down.

70/100

3:10 to Yuma

Christian Bale plays a down on his luck rancher named Dan Evans. His spread is getting ready to be foreclosed on and sold. So Evans decides to take his chances in bringing outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to justice for $200 promised to him by an official from the stage coach line Wade has brutally victimized. The bad news is no one wants to help Evans out of fear of reprisal from his gang led by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Evans soon finds himself in over his head.

Crowe plays Wade as a charming, somewhat intelligent man even flirts with the idea of running off to Mexico with barmaid (Vinessa Shaw from the legendary Ladybugs). Crowe is at the top of his game, but there isn't a whole lot he or Bale can do with their characters. For such a long film (two hours... and it feels longer), you neither learn anything remarkable about them nor do you get a lot of action. Ben Foster has the flashy role of the expert gunfighter, but it is hard to take someone serious in that way when he looks like a stiff breeze could knock him off his horse. Peter Fonda is a highlight though as the cagey old hired mercenary assigned to guarding the stage line.

Director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Copland) seems trapped in the narrow restraints of the original. This movie begs for the streamlined approach. There is way too much exposition in the story, which causes a lag in several spots. Couple that with an idiot ending and you are forced to not really enjoy the experience. Mangold echoed this film in modern times for Copland, but he gets lost here. I wanted to like this film...

50/100