American Gangster

3/4 stars

A viewer coming to American Gangster expecting to see something like a formula (or even an exceptional) crime film will be disappointed to find it a somewhat different kind of movie. This isn't an operatic bloodbath, it's more of a biopic. Denzel Washington is top shelf of course, and it's not that he doesn't play a powerful and charismatic personality, but he doesn't do it in the way we have come to expect. Russell Crowe meanwhile, who I have rather pointedly disliked up until recently, gives his second inspired performance of the past year, after 3:10 to Yuma. Though separated for most of the film, when the two meet face to face, the result is a scene that I have a feeling will be well remembered. If this movie has a weakness though, it's that we can't really connect with Washington's character in the way we want to. We never get to see him hurt or challenged. In retrospect, I am also uncomfortable with the almost completely positive light in which the titular gangster is shown, given that he is a real person, and the fact that he apparently contributed a great deal to the making of the film. There are two sides to every story, but this film seems to be a little unbalanced toward the "outlaw as hero" interpretation.

Written February 21, 2008.