american gangster

I finally watched American Gangster. It did not live up to the hype. Which is actually a good thing. A lot of the hype built up this film to be "this generation's Scarface", but it was neither bloody, violent or over the top. Sure it glorifies Frank Lucas but this movie is more of a pensive character study with flashes of gangsterisms.

The most interesting aspect was how Frank Lucas rose above the Italian mob families in the dope game by cutting out the Italian middlemen and engineering the most outrageous drug trafficking plan. He flew to Southeast Asia, bought the dope straight from the source and smuggled it back to the states inside the coffins of dead American soldiers from the Vietnam War. His heroin, dubbed "Blue Magic" was double the purity of any other heroin on the street and was sold at a cheaper price. Even though Lucas claimed to earn $1 million a day, he lived a modest life and layed low. For years, the Feds didn't know who he was and couldn't believe a black man was the top dog among drug dealers. It doesn't sound right to admire a gangster - but Lucas was a pioneer. He ran the first black-owned business in the drug game and elevated it to boutique status.

Yes, Lucas is glorified excessively but he is such a compelling character. In fact, American Gangster's most glaring flaw is that its splits time to present 2 character studies - the rise of Frank Lucas and the journey of rugged cop Richie Roberts. Even though Russell Crowe delivers a nice performance, we don't need so much of Roberts in the story. Much of his background story could have been edited out in order to delve deeper into Lucas' complexities. After seeing the film, I read that the script had originally focused mostly on Lucas but was changed. Perhaps it was altered to attract a heavyweight like Crowe.

People looking for the next Tony Montana may be disappointed. I enjoyed it. Its not a classic, but its a well-executed movie.