"American Gangster"

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Ridley Scott's American Gangster (Universal, 11.2) screened last night at West L.A.'s Landmark, and it's "really, really good," a friend says. Denzel Washington is superb in his second big bad-guy role as Frank Lucas, a real-life Harlem drug-dealer who reigned in the early to mid '70s. The Best Actor Oscar heat is Washington's to run with, he says, although Russell Crowe's performance as Washington's nemesis, Det. Richie Roberts, is way up there also.

It's "just a really good, really well-made" crime movie that isn't a high-style Ridley Scott showcase as much as a top-grade 1970s Sidney Lumet film -- accents, atmosphere, facts, character, flamboyance. The trailer shows it. Forget Toronto. Screenings will probably start in mid September or thereabouts, although I wouldn't be surprised if they show it again between now and Labor Day

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 10, 2007 at 1:24 PM

comment #1

actionman says ...

This is my #1 movie to see the rest of the year. The combo of Scott-Denzel-Crowe along with the subject matter makes me shiver. Can't f'ing wait.

Posted by actionman at August 10, 2007 2:19 PM

comment #2

BurmaShave says ...

Don't forget Josh Brolin and Armand Assante. I would watch a movie starring just them.

Also, in the trailer, does anyone know if the song is saying "Ain't no love in the heart of the city" or "Ain't no love in Harlem city" ? I'm woefully ignorant of my soul music. This is important, please get back to me, as they say on IMDb.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 10, 2007 2:37 PM

comment #3

bmcintire says ...

It sounds pretty close to Grady Champion's cover, but either remixed or covered by someone that sounds very close to him vocally. Bobby "Blue" Bland and Mick Abrahams have covered this (and so has Whitesnake - yikes!!!) though I don't know who originated it. And it is called "Ain't No Love (In the Heart of the City)."

Posted by bmcintire at August 10, 2007 2:55 PM

comment #4

Me says ...

I know I'm swimming against the stream on this one, but this trailer didn't do anything for me. It's just another gangster movie, with nothing more to say than has already been said (and better) in Godfather and Goodfellas. Personally, unless you're willing to do something more real and a lot more brutal, like The Wire, this whole genre has become a bore.

Posted by Me at August 10, 2007 3:02 PM

comment #5

bmcintire says ...

Glad to see Russell Crowe back in his game with both 3:10 TO YUMA and AMERICAN GANGSTER (after the misstep of A GOOD YEAR). By the way, has anyone heard anything on TENDERNESS? The director isn't giving me any great sense of security, but it looks like it could be interesting - if a little too movie of the week.

Posted by bmcintire at August 10, 2007 3:02 PM

comment #6

haydude says ...

Its a sample of Champion's cover- used in the Jay-Z song heart of the city that was produced by either Just Blaze or Kanye West of the 2001 Blueprint album

Posted by haydude at August 10, 2007 3:10 PM

comment #7

Dan Revill says ...

I thought it was a whitesnake song...

Posted by Dan Revill at August 10, 2007 3:13 PM

comment #8

SHR says ...

Does "really, really good" mean that your friend felt that it was less than Ridley's best? I keep thinking that "really good" and "really well-made" are backhanded compliments of a sort of standard film. Hope not.

Posted by SHR at August 10, 2007 3:20 PM

comment #9

azmoviegoer says ...

This is my number 1 "can't wait" to see movie too. I was totally psyched to hear this feedback. On another note, can I just say that I am very jealous of all the bloggers here who get to see these movies way in advance. I know that's kind of shallow and lame, just saying how I feel.

Posted by azmoviegoer at August 10, 2007 3:31 PM

comment #10

EOTW says ...

You can't top The Wire. Ever. And who could be a more brutal gangster than Marlowe? I don't wanna know!

Posted by EOTW at August 10, 2007 6:45 PM

comment #11

p.Vice says ...

Indeed -- "just a really good, really well-made" movie means it has zero originality, plays completely by the book, and will no doubt win raves from critics and moviegoers who like their crime fiction nice and pat and without an ounce of the sexual and religious tremors that Scorsese teased out in a real piece of work like The Departed. Mike D'Angelo already coined this as "Generican Gangster" so anybody with two brain cells should be able to know the entire movie like the back of their hand.

Posted by p.Vice at August 10, 2007 7:55 PM

comment #12

KeithNYC says ...

Can we please stop the worship over "The Departed"? The last half-hour is absurd and the whole movie just does not hold up logically. It is entertaining enough with some great performances.
By the way, HBO only gave David Simon 10 episodes to wrap up "The Wire". Since Simon set up about a dozen plotlines for the final season we are really going to get shortchanged. HBO execs suck, screwing the fans again.

Posted by KeithNYC at August 10, 2007 8:22 PM

comment #13

dawgzilla67 says ...

Me, I think this does have the potential to be different from 90 percent of the gangster films out there simply on the basis of the race of the gangster. If you're exploring racism and how that affected class issues in the 1970's then you're going down a road that The Godfather and Goodfellas (both of which are masterpieces, of course) seemed to want to avoid.

And hopefully, this will be an entry on the "hit" side of Sir Ridley's career ledger, because I'd hate to see him spend a few years in movie jail due to a few consecutive flops.

Funny, I don't recall seeing any shots of Cuba Gooding in that trailer ...

Posted by dawgzilla67 at August 10, 2007 8:38 PM

comment #14

ROTC says ...

Me said: "It's just another gangster movie, with nothing more to say than has already been said (and better) in Godfather and Goodfellas."

IMO American Gangster looks more comparable storywise to New Jack City.

Posted by ROTC at August 10, 2007 9:25 PM

comment #15

John Cocktosten says ...

This looks completely brain-dead and formulaic, like lots of Ridley's work. Can we just keep Ridley as the DP from now on, where he belongs?

Posted by John Cocktosten at August 10, 2007 9:31 PM

comment #16

Geoff says ...

I don't know, I just really dig that slow motion backlit silhouette of Denzel opening fire directly at the camera and revealing his face.

Ridley is the man.

Posted by Geoff at August 10, 2007 11:24 PM

comment #17

Malone says ...

Harris Savides and Ridley Scott together!

It'll rock.

Posted by Malone at August 11, 2007 12:25 AM

comment #18

le corbeau says ...

Even more than the movie... I look forward to the Armond White review excoriating Washington for playing another bad guy.

Posted by le corbeau at August 11, 2007 8:04 AM

comment #19

Me says ...

dawgzilla67, I think you're right in that there has been a short-changing of intelligent and prestige gangster movies handling race, but unfortunately for this movie, The Wire is already tackling the idea of racism and crime so intelligently and with so much grace that from the looks of this preview, American Gangster looks like a shallow action movie in comparison. And if that's all it is, fine - it'll probably be a fun time - but I don't see this movie having anything real to say or deserving of a whole lot of mention come awards season.

As for New Jack City, I think tht this wants to be a bit more highbrow than that, though that one was a hell of a good flick.

Posted by Me at August 11, 2007 8:59 AM

comment #20