American Gangster - Review

Comment on “American Gangster”

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1. BEEZWACKS Says:
   October 28th, 2007 at 01:47

   I dunno. I conked out like after an hour and 45 minutes. I didnt really feel sympathy for any of the characters, and half the time i didnt really know what was going on to tell the truth. I really hated Denzel Washingtons character. Shit so THATS what happened to the black community at the end of the 70s. Fuck the CIA bringing drugs into our neighborhood lol. What exactly is the moral/point of the movie? Is it some kind of biography? I still dont know (or care) who this guy is. He seemed like a big waste of space. Shipping heroin into the country using the bodies of dead soldiers. UGH. There was nothing i liked about this movie. I had no emotional reaction to it except for disgust. maybe that was the directors intent? I mean was this supposed to be the black scarface or something? the black *insert famous gangster/mafia movie*. It wasnt a BAD movie, but it didnt stick with me, and def. wont make it to cult classic status like we all imagined it could have. oh well.

1. Joeschmoe Says:
   October 28th, 2007 at 01:48

   Anyone with a shred of cinematic taste will be able to see this movie for what it really is - another weak entry in the mobster genre - but as long as it has plenty of "Scarface" moments it should do gangbusters(unfortunately), Im sure that a majority of this films box office is going to come from "Scarface Fans".
   
   That wouldn't bother were it not for the fact that most of these people idolize this character who is essentially a scumbag, which is just one of the many flaws running through the movie, yet they still think that its the greatest thing ever.

1. complexity Says:
   October 28th, 2007 at 01:51

   I disagree.

1. Joel Says:
   October 28th, 2007 at 12:17

   i guess all the top critics are scarface fans lol poor review joeschmoe

1. Jim Wright Says:
   October 28th, 2007 at 12:17

   what is a "gangbuster"?

1. tonya Says:
   October 29th, 2007 at 00:11

   I WASN'T IMPRESSED AND I THOUGHT IT WAS HYPED A LITTLE TOO MUCH. I AGREE WITH THE OTHER PERSON THAT I LOST INTEREST AT ONE POINT. A WASTE OF MONEY. HOLLYWOOD SHOULD SPEND MONEY ON MAKING MOVIES THAT YOU WOULDN'T MIND SEEING MORE THAN ONCE. THIS MOVIE DIDN'T LIVE UP TO THE HYPE.....(YAWNING).

1. cutieinthemidwest Says:
   October 30th, 2007 at 12:20

   I loved the movie...Denzel deserves another Oscar nod...it's just too bad that it hit the streets before the theatres!! Two thumbs up!!

1. Mike Says:
   October 30th, 2007 at 16:13

   Thanks for the review. I've been on the fence about this one, because I sensed it was being overhyped. I find that I agree with most of your reviews, so this is a good heads up for me.

1. Let them who have eyes see! Says:
   October 30th, 2007 at 23:09

   You know, the movie started out slow, but so what! Overall I loved it. I am one who doesn't believe in condoning illegal activities, but I must confess, I loved this movie. Perhaps it shouldn't have been name the American Gangster. It shouldn't have even been put in the same category as a mobster movie either. He wasn't a gangster involved with any gangs; neither was he a mafia member. If anything, he was a entrepreneur with an illegal business… just the same as an entrepreneur with a legal business, who gives/condone orders/actions to the criminal activities of the business managers who conduct business by any means necessary.
   
   What I seen was a smart, intelligent shrewd man, who took all (to his knowledge) he knew and was about, and utilized his knowledge, skills & abilities in the raw with; some discretion, some integrity while being thorough, precise and absolute, not only in his decision making, but also in his dealings. He was just on the wrong side of the law.
   
   Now what different does it makes if you have a criminal on the wrong side of the law vs. a criminal on the right side of the law. I didn't read one review condemning none of the law enforcement criminals, or is that because like what was represented was beyond the imagination of some, that a black man having this much capabilities above the "street or government criminals." I would take a person like that to run any of my businesses over an indecisive, untrustworthy wolf in sheep clothing.
   
   I seen portrayed in this movie what goes on in everyday life on a higher scale. We are all wretched, blind, ignorant & poor without knowing to what extent. Sin is sin… no sin greater or lesser than the other. The same goes for the criminal activities we all commit everyday all day long. He kill physically, we kill spiritually. He sold drugs to some mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, elderly, teens, & indirectly babies, which in some manner killed or destroyed their lives…we on the other hand to some of the same types of people kill & destroy lives of others with far more suffering with abuse, rape, incest, lying, omitting crucial information, backbiting, false accusing, discriminating, ignoring, covering, hiding, slandering, being malevolent, baleful, & deceitful. With all this in our hearts projecting these ways on/to others kills & destroys much slower & utterly. These are the things that drives people to the drug use. There are simply trying to forget some of these things done to them or searching for the opposite of these things called LOVE. Drugs give them a false sense of sense & sensibility and people feed off of it. That's what makes it a good commodity.
   
   But, we want to condemn the drug dealer without examining ourselves for pushing our love ones to it. When we fail to bestow in our love ones (including our neighbors) the way in which to go, this is usually the route taken, trying to find the love we should be giving, showing, exercising & offering. When we fail to do that, that's when the pimps, players, drug dealers etc scoop them up. They recruit them and introduce them to another way of life, and the one good thing you might have told them (your love one) is to be the best you can be in all you do. Well hell, if I am going to be good…I'm going to do dam good! If I'm going to be the best (at whatever I do) I'm going to be the very best! I will studied it, examined it, scrutinized it, I would sleep with it and wake up to it. Just like God said meditate on Him day and night, that's what I would be doing with the knowledge , skills & abilities bestowed in me. I WOULD MASTER IT!
   
   This was better than any gangster-mobster movie. Most of those movies don't tell you about the personal character of the persons. Just the criminal activities and how the were executed also. This movie portrayed to me how some people are driven. The honest cop, look at what he was faced with in his profession and how driven he was…The same with the business man. I know that statement is driving some of you nuts calling Frank a business man, but hey let's face it, it was business. They both chose their profession and both put their all into it no matter what. You know God created light & darkness. He causes the sun to shine on both. You wouldn't know one without the other. To me they were both needed to cast light on the bigger picture. They were both excellent on their side of the law.
   
   Now, how can you catch a criminal unless you think like a criminal? The person who has to think like the criminal must possess a criminal nature. The cop did only he expressed this criminal nature in his personal life which made him believe that because he was honest in his profession it made him a honest man who didn't need to bother examining himself personally. Likewise, the business man believed he was honest because he was personally, but when doing business there was no need to examine himself in that department because that was just business and as far as he can see that is how business should be and is conducted. It gives economic growth, employs and there is no better commodity than the one he had.
   
   Now, knowing how business is conducted and executed, who better can get to the bottom line of the system and curtail it than one who knows and thinks like the business men. (And by the way, he wasn't as ruthless & conniving as the Enron Corporation entrepreneurs and we are still feeling the effects of their actions.) One must possess that nature also. That call of nature has to be clever and must have discernment in order to beat him at his own game.
   
   This is where the cop & the business man, turned informant, raw talents are needed to get to the bottom of the issue (stop the trafficking). Oh! You all left out the politicians & government (which is probably you all, the other 1/3). That is who they should have gone after when they got all the dirty cops locked up. Oh no let's not go there! You're talking about going after my husband, my father, my brother! Why he's an upstanding criminal, I mean citizen.
   
   Anywaysssssssss! I saw what was good about it was it depicted the realness of subtle racism, when it comes to blacks having any money or power. It also depicted organized crime that was not mafia, but within an entity who condone crime from within, but not outside of it self. How our CIA, FBI looks the other way for what, the sake of economy or what? How the cops claim unity within, but under criminality. How they claim devotion to partners in crime. How our government can tell via satellite and other gadgets what & where Sadamn Hussein is and doing, but can't catch Ben Laden and/or drugs infiltrating our country. Why is that? Oh, because they line our country's pocket's while Hussein line his.
   
   Did you really dislike the movie because in your eyes you saw gangsters or mafia style or because it depicted your nature or in-capabilities?
   
   

1. joshua parker Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 13:30

   i can't wait to see this movie

1. Deanna Says:
   November 5th, 2007 at 13:47

   Ditto, for Let them who have eyes see. You have hit the nail on bulleyes.

1. des_ Says:
   November 5th, 2007 at 16:24

   scarface has nothing on American Gangster. AG is complex and brings immense moral and social issues. Denzel gives another incredible performance and such command and charisma. Every time he appears on the screen the audience is captivated as if some crazy shit about to happen. This is a great movie.

1. Torry Adams Says:
   November 7th, 2007 at 18:08

   I absolutely agree with this review. Spare me grand reviews of existenial depth, this movie was a snooze! It never cut the surface of the all too obvious contradictions in these two men. It lacked substance and depth. Washington and Crowe, two incredible actors, did what they could with a lackluster script and poor direction. Had I not been with a group, I definitely would have checked out early. I can buy that there are naked women around drug dealers, but gimme a break... women packing and unpacking herion in the nude...pathetic gratuity in an attempt to spice up an otherwise megasnoozer.

1. George Says:
   November 9th, 2007 at 16:10

   Overlong, overhyped. Supposedly based on a true story, but done in by a simplistic ending that turns Denzel's character into someone a cop could love. Some enjoyable parts, but mostly just an OK movie, not a great movie. Loved the Asian scenes. Loved the bad cops. And loved the feel -- I think the era was well captured.

1. Dawn Says:
   November 10th, 2007 at 19:50

   I walked out after an hour. I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen and did not care. No character development for Denzyl and Russel and definitely no pathos. And I worried about those naked beautiful heroin cutters; wouldn't the heroin be all over and in their skin? Why didn't they just say Denzyl wanted to be surrounded by beautiful women, maybe then I would of believed something about this movie.
   
   The scene with his family in his new house was simply ridiculous. Where did they get those checkered shirts in Harlem? Why was Denzyl driven to be a drug dealer when everyone was so happy? And the fact that he made his mom's bedroom out of his five year old memory was just creepy.

1. Chuck Says:
   November 10th, 2007 at 19:51

   Some of you guys here need to relax. It was a movie and as a movie it had good value as entertainment. Yes I was disappointed in the ending and yes, i would have loved to have seen a more in depth study of the operation of the crime organization and the criminal investigation, but NO movie is perfect. Denzel gave his usual fine performance and Crowe was great also as the determined cop.
   
   Frank Lucas was no better or worse than any of your typical New York gangsters. He had a novel idea and it made him rich for awhile. Yet it detroyed many lives. It is a debt that he continues to pay for today.

1. JE Says:
   November 12th, 2007 at 21:36

   I just got back from seeing this movie and judging by the majority of the reviews it got from critics it has to be the most overrated gangster film ever made. There are so many logical inconsistencies and sub-plot dead ends it's absurd. For example, the drug unit search of the plane at the end of the movie. Notice every soldier was forced to stay and have his bags searched and yet the mule who transported the dope failed to tip of Frank's nephew about the obvious sting that was in motion? Or hey frank's wife doesn't know he doesn't believe in dressing flashy even though he makes a point of telling his brothers this? Please. Where did they find this writer? And Russell Crowe's performance was flat...
   
   What a major disappointment!

1. Simply Irresistible Says:
   November 13th, 2007 at 23:29

   Out of curiousity I went to check out the reviews for Good Fellas, Scarface, The Departed, and the Untouchables. There are some notable similarities that I am starting to see in the reviews. Do you think that its cultural? Just wondering.

1. Simply Irresistible Says:
   November 13th, 2007 at 23:30

   Out of curiousity I went to check out the reviews that were made on Good Fellas,the Untouchables and Scarface. I am starting to see some notable similarities in reviews now. Do you think that its cultural? Just wondering.

1. patrick Says:
   March 5th, 2008 at 17:41

   American Gangster reminds me yet again what a versatile actor Russell Crowe is… plus Ridley Scott deftly leads us into loving the bad guy and disliking the good guy only to flip that around by the end of the movie... very clever.

1. Harry Georgatos Says:
   March 31st, 2008 at 20:37

   "American Gangster" is strongly reminiscent of the crime thrillers of the 70's. Influences range from "The French Connection" to the Godfather movies to the flavour of Martin Scorsese gangster flicks. The structure of the movie with Russell Crowe pitted against Denzel Washington is heavily familiar to Michael Mann'r "Heat" with Al Pacino pitted against Robert De Nero. The look of the film within the crime genre has an overwhelming density that only Ridley Scott brings to most of his films. One just can't afford to look away because you might lose seeing a striking image. My problem with the film is Denzel's character Frank Lucas. Frank is portrayed as a hero of the African-American community. In real life Frank's drugs killed so many of his own people in Harlem. In reality this man was a cold-blooded murderer. By receiving only fifteen years in prison makes a mockery of the justice system, because he ratted on some corrupt cops. In a just society this psychopath should have spent the rest of his life in prison. I know Frank Lucas is bases on true events, but watching this man step out of prison at the end of the movie left a foul taste in my mouth. Looking forward to Ridley Scott's next film "Body Of Lies"

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