Blair Loveday
It has been such a long time since I saw the incredible movie that was American Gangster.
At the time it seemed too big to be true, and then we kinds learned, it was. Some of the specific details came under question and it kinds took some shine off a fascinating story. Looking back on it now, I was curious how it would stand up knowing it was more “inspired by” rather than “based on”.
Turns out, it’s still excellent.
American Gangster is set in the 60’s in New York where a crime boss is in the making. Frank Lucas is getting into the drug trafficking trade and is disappointed in the amount of chopping up that happens to drugs as it goes from dealer to dealer. Since the Vietnam war is going on he whips over to South East Asia and strikes a deal to get pure Heroin into the country. Cutting out the middle men means he is able to sell way better heroin for way less. The unexpected strength and supply of the drug makes the heroin problem so much worse.
So alongside this bad man doing bad things, we get our good guy. Richie Roberts is a good cop who other cops don’t like because, well you know, corruption. They like getting money from bad guys, and Richie taddles on them. Richie gets on the case to find out what’s up with the heroin.
The movie jumps between both of the main characters, from before they are aware of each other, to the insane conclusion. Both characters are built to be complicated, with Frank wanting to provide for his family, but taking it way too far. Richie is built as a character who has put policing above his family and let the family slip away so he can do his calling. This allows the movie to jump around from them, to family, to corrupt cops, to other gangs, and despite it seeming like it could lose focus, the clear throughline of the drugs keeps it surprisingly focused.
The Bluray includes the theatrical version which is 2.5 hours long, and it includes a director’s cut that includes another 30 minutes. While some of the additional scenes don’t add too much, some really do and the Director’s Cut has a much better ending. I highly recommend that version but if you want to save 30 mins, you have both options which is cool.
The Bluray includes a heap of behind the scenes features, and this is where I discovered how involved Lucas was with the movie. Given he was a massive drug lord, he has a friendship with Richie in real life since his release. They both were involved in the movie, which probably allows the stories to be exaggerated. Looking at it as a fictional movie based on real events though, the movie absolutely still kills it. So whoever provided input definitely helps. To say it is just the writing and excellent directing is one thing, but none of this works without the incredible cast lead by Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. I can’t help but associate Crowe with phone throwing and the Rabbitohs, but when you see him in a movie like this you are reminded just how damn good he can be. Denzel Washington is always excellent, so no surprise, he is excellent here.
If you haven’t seen American Gangster for a while I can’t help but recommend you pick this blu-ray up. The movie is as good as ever and the additional content on the Blu-ray makes this a slam dunk to go back and revisit this gem.
