American Gangster

Another contribution to the family of top-notch mafia flicks. The first half is a little protracted and boring, but the second half makes up for it. Denzel Washington steals the show, forcing Russell Crowe into the sidekick role. The new Scorsese (The Departed) was more superficial, but stronger in details and with sharper edges. Scott is slower and less flashy, but also more harmonic and easy to follow. The kings of the genres for me are still Coppola (The Godfather) De Palma (Scarface) and old Scorsese (Goodfellas). (12/20/2007)

I have a feeling Ridley Scott must be on some kind of steroids, or he's an alien. To be able to have such a work pace and commitment at his age (7 films in the next 2 years(!!!), directing or producing) without lowering his standards of quality? Hats off to him! And there's no need to waste superlatives and repeat what has already been written, just a mention of Josh Brolin. His corrupt cop with his slicked back hair, booming bass and mischief in his eyes is exactly the persona, the expression imprinted on your memory that will come to mind when you think of this mafia epic in another 20 years. His few minutes of screen presence almost overshadows the two leads, his blackmail of Frank Lucas – "...Cause you don't fuckin know me! Do you see that right there? Special Investigations Unit. Special. Get it?" – in its bluntness and commanding delivery, almost made me smile. Just an irresistible son of a bitch par excellence. If Judi Dench got an Oscar for her four-minute snap in Shakespeare in Love, I'd give Josh two! (01/03/2008)

After being urged by a fried for several months, I finally watched American Gangster and I can’t shake the slight enthusiasm. Flawless direction, brilliant performances (and I don’t like Denzel too much) and an interesting story (at least for me, I haven’t seen many gangster movies so I can’t compare it within the genre), all combine to deliver a five-star worthy film. And even though I generally prefer films that are half as long, this one didn’t bore me for a second. (07/03/2008)

While most famous directors in this age are making films solely for their own entertainment, Ridley Scott comes up with a work of such incredible awareness and craft that it’s essentially unbelievable. Two and a half hours of the essence of scorching filmmaking that will sweep you away with its unique ode to the time period, perfectly written and superbly acted parts, and, last but not least, the naturalistic violence that a proper gangster cannot do without. Scott extracts the essentials from Scorsese, De Palma, and Mann, but remains incredibly his own, i.e., a self-assured filmmaker with a unique authorial imprint that will be indelibly etched in the viewer's mind forever. There is no point in sparing superlatives here. Believe me, they’ll get Oscars for editing, cinematography, and directing! Edit: The absence (albeit!) of nominations in these categories is the American Film Academy’s greatest crime since the beginning of the new century! Shove the Oscars up your ass! (11/02/2007)

"My man." Two men standing opposite one another. Both on different sides of the law. But first impressions can be wrong... No, this isn’t Mann’s Heat, but American Gangster is very similar. Or so you would have thought. You can even see images reminiscent of Once Upon a Time in America, The Godfather and Goodfellas. Ridley Scott decided that it’s about time that he won one of those director’s awards, and with this movie, it might just work. We can only hope that this won’t be Scott’s swan song. Because this is a perfect and flawless picture. Well, almost perfect. But it has an unignorable snag - everything that this movie shows you, you have seen before in one of the above genre classics. It’s not directly plagiarism, but it has nothing to surprise us with. On the other hand, Scott presents it in such a perfect technical wrapping, so atmospherically and so perfectly cast that this fact is completely overshadowed... American Gangster is a splendid genre picture, but nothing more. For that, it lacks any invention whatsoever. That said, this does nothing to impair the watching experience. (02/09/2022)

It's been a couple of months since the release in cinemas and I still can't quite grasp the genius of this opus. Right after the premiere, I got carried away by the enthusiastic applause for the result, but over time, all that remained in my head was the traditionally stunning Crowe (unlike Washington, who must always play at full capacity, Denzel has a role written in such a way that he comes out as a king in any case) and Scott's precise direction, without which the film would collapse several floors down. However, I also have a problem with him not offering me a scene that would go down in history, and if I don't have to aim so high, at least something smaller like a stylish shootout. But that is missing and paradoxically, one of Zaillian's most proclaimed scripts is to blame for that. The lack of black and white between the two main characters, which causes the absence of a villain. The evil gaze is involuntarily directed at the generalized group of "corrupt cops", and despite apparent objectivity, Scott takes us where he wants us to be, and I have to be a little disappointed because this is not how I imagined Ridley's pivotal work in his career at all. I understand the global acclaim, but despite many positives, I'm not joining in. (01/10/2008)

Under the impression of high ratings and knowing that it is one of the most praised films of last year, I expected an exceptional experience, which did not happen; however, it does not mean that it is a bad movie. But there have been many gangster films made in the United States, and Scott's film is not among the very best. My favorites remain the older films by Scorsese and Coppola. Ridley Scott adds racial issues and the Vietnam war trauma to the classic gangster theme. In the first half, the film starts at a slow pace, and Russell Crowe seemed rather unremarkable to me. Most scenes felt like I had seen them somewhere before and they could have been directed a bit more atmospherically. However, it is a big-budget film, skillfully edited, with excellent music and good actors. Overall impression: 75%. (02/10/2008)

An excellent, atmospheric gangster movie. Perfect directing from Ridley Scott, excellent acting performances from Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe is further enhanced by an excellent screenplay. And Josh Brolin made a really good impression on me; he’s appearing in better and better roles these days. (03/05/2008)

It’s probably true, Ridley Scott, is getting better the older he gets. He’s directing even stronger stories than in the past, but just as visually brilliant, and the actors in them play fantastically – better than ever before. One would expect that at his age he would only enjoy making movies and shoot easygoing films like A Good Year, but that's not the case. Scott is fiercely pursuing success, he’s still as enthusiastic about filmmaking as before, and thanks to this spirit, he was able to make a thrilling and intense film like American Gangster. Fantastic in terms of acting (Denzel Washington is magnificent), visually brilliant (cinematography, editing) and in terms of the production design and complex depiction of the 1970s in the American metropolis, it is hard to beat. It’s not a better film than Goodfellas (slower pace), but in the current times of garbage in the sewage, it is a clean, winding and proud bandage on the cinematography of commercial Hollywood. After the second and third screening, one of the best gangster movies ever. Better, more compact and with a bigger heart than Goodfellas. Josh Brolin is awesome and so is Washington. (02/03/2008)

A Vietnamese gangster, a.k.a. a bit of a different kick in the rear to the way America was headed after the WWII, when you could swim in banknotes, but with more or less dirty hands, of course. Fantastically brisk, almost in the style of Scorsese’s best, skilfully put together around the informational and motivational parallelisms between the characters, and shot with a certain text-book aloofness that lets you not only appreciate the story of the protagonist, but also the general narrative and timeless diary of an era, and the links to the social or ideological components. But at the same time, non-stop fun as every proper cop movie. Very well spent three hours. 90% (04/19/2020)

Ridley Scott, my eternal film enemy. I don't seek out his movies, but sometimes they find their way to me, just like the three-hour "American Gangster" did. You might ask why someone who doesn't love Scott would watch one of his longest films. One reason is that it was somewhat of a challenge. The second reason is that I did some work on the film, so it didn't bother me that much. "American Gangster" is not a bad film because Russell Crowe - and it's hard to admit this - is simply a good actor. Similarly, Denzel Washington, who perhaps overly resembles his pose in "Training Day". The film is a nice look at the end of the 60s and a real-life African-American gangster who took over the New York drug underworld but ultimately paid for it. Not terribly, because he then exposed everyone he could and the detective who caught him became his advocate and secured a reduced sentence for him. Frank Lucas is still among us and Ridley Scott presents his interesting story to us, which is skillfully directed, supported by great actors, but it just somehow lacks the right emotions. A good biographical film. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-005-reziser.html (02/15/2013)

Seeing it again after three years, hence the review has to change (and the original one was pretty stupid as I’m looking at it now – of course I'm not saying this one will be better). American Gangster is a fascinating display of impeccable film craftsmanship, an impressive portrayal of period atmosphere, a fantastically layered and thoughtful script, and not least two excellent performances. When such machinery is directed by the great Ridley Scott himself, who is a whiz at both the "technical" and the "psychological", the result must be something approaching cinematic perfection. I'm always terribly careful when I mention perfection in the context of a review, but here any restraint is really out of place. The way Ridley Scott has managed to present the gradual development of the story, while really not forgetting anything essential (both main characters are equal in terms of their involvement in the story, and both main storylines offer a few side plots that are certainly not pointless) is truly admirable. Another huge strength of American Gangster is the fact that, despite the very long running time, the entire film is quite brisk (which can be attributed to Scott's talent and, of course, the appeal of the subject matter itself) and has no weak spots (I devoured the extended version without pause in one breath the second time around). It's a "drug movie", but at the end I felt that it was all more about that desire for justice and at least "momentary cleansing". The tenacity, stubbornness, and defiance against a system that works and sustains tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of variously influential people was more than remarkable. Perfect characters, perfect actors, s perfect script, and absolutely divine direction. A genre gem. (09/26/2012)