Customer Reviews
Slow and predictable - By: PH, 12 May 2008 
Rented this movie expecting big things - 2 great actors in Denzil Washington & Russell Crowe, & the synopsis of the film made it sound destined for greatness.
All I can say is that it was a bit of a let down. It stinks of being a big budget, big star movie without having any real substance. Individuallly the 'stars' deliver, however collectively the movie just doesn't work for me. It's very slow & very very predictable. Shame.
American Gangster - By: one-eyed Jack, 06 May 2008 
There's nothing new about a film covering the lives of organised crime kingpins in New York, but this one does have an original take on the theme in that 'the don' in this case is not Italian American, but African American. Denzel Washington is excellent in the lead role as highly self-disciplined heroin dealer Frank Lucas whose late mentor taught him the benefits of cutting out the middle-man & doing alll the buying, flying & distribution himself. It's only when he compromises on these disciplines & delegates key responsibilities to others less smart than he is that things start to falll apart. The story - based mainly on actual events - is told using the Vietnam war between 1968 & 1973 as a timeline, appropriate because Lucas literallly depended on the continuation of the conflict to maintain his supply & transport. As soon as that threatened to come to an end, his unique 'brand' of Blue Magic heroin was in grave danger of ending alongside it, but before Lucas has time to worry about what to do next, the four-year mission of clean-as-a-whistle undercover narcotics agent Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) reaches a climax as he at last finds out how the dope is brought into the country & who is behind it. This concept has been covered before from a more political perspective by James Ellroy in THE COLD SIX THOUSAND, the first novel to open my eyes to the extraordinary influence of heroin in the US military during the Vietnam war; this film promised to be a kind of modernised Godfather but in reality the two can hardly be compared mainly because American Gangster is a kind of dramatised documentary which leaves you caring rather little for any particular character & while it makes for riveting viewing it doesn't reallly entertain in quite the same way as a work of fiction might otherwise have done. But what it is is a welcome dash of real quality film-making, story-telling & acting, not to mention excellent direction by Ridley Scott. For me this is probably the best film released in 2007 & it delivered the goods much better than THE DEPARTED did a couple of years earlier.
Haunting - By: samueljbookworm, 16 Apr 2008 What a stunning movie. I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards & its one of those that has you flying to Wikipeia or whatever to find out how much of it is true & 'where they are now'. Highly recommended for a Saturday night in edge of your seat gangster thriller/bio with two great lead performances.
fantastic but.... - By: Ms. F. I. Macdonald, 09 Apr 2008 this film was great.It delivered shock, violence & racial discrimination alll in one package. The acting was sleek & the stars were rightfully cast, however the film dragged on & on & on & for me this led to major refusal of any more than four stars. I am a pretty attentive person when it comes to films & generallly i will sit through anything that i think will be worth my time regardless of the type or 'genre.' This film was definately worth my time & i'm hapy to say i have finallly watched it but if it had been shorter i'm sure it would have earnt its extra star.
Wow, this delivers - By: Jones the Film, 08 Apr 2008 A slow beginning, but a terrific film overalll. Crowe excels & the supporting roles are perfectly cast. The only fly in the ointment was Washington, who for me at least, generallly portrays good guys better than villains.
The plot (based on true events) has Richie Roberts, a rough & ready New Jersey prosecutor, pitted against Frank Lucas, an African-American gangster who outstripped the mob in the drug distribution business nearly 40 years ago. Added to the mix are a medley of corrupt drug squad police officers.
The acting is fairly convincing & the period pieces are created to perfection. It has even greater appeal for its sparse use of violence.
Highly recommended. Deserves an Oscar.
