AMERICAN GANGSTER

"I don't work for nobody"

When his boss and mentor dies, Frank Lucas (Washington) sees an opportunity to make some real money. Cutting out the suppliers and dealers of his neighbour, Frank goes to the source of the entire heroin coming into New York, the Far East and pays troops stationed over amidst the Vietnam War to ship it back on military transports. He then floods the market with his cheaper, purer product but it gains the attention of drug enforcement officer Richie Roberts (Crowe) but no one believes that a black man can achieve more than the Mafia family and dominate the New York drug scene.

When Ridley Scott announces that he is going to make an epic movie, everyone takes notice and when he reveals it is going to cover a real life, New York crime incident then you have to get excited but can 'American Gangster' be as good as the classics of the genre?

Epic stories have become a forte of Ridley Scott. From 'Gladiator' to 'Bladerunner' and 'Alien' to Black Hawk Down', the director is no stranger to taking grandiose tales and making classic movies from them. When it was announced that he was going to make an organised crime epic, it would have been fair to assume that 'American Gangster' could be the new 'Goodfellas' or 'Godfather' for the new millennium but sadly it isn't.

Based on the lives of drug baron Frank Lucas and the police officer who pursued him, Richie Roberts, this is a crime story that isn't as riveting as it should have been. While charting the rise of one of the most successful gangsters in New York history, who just happened not to be Italian but Black, Ridley Scott and his creative team forget to make any of the cast members really likeable in any way. There is nothing charismatic about Lucas or Ritchie, unlike the lead characters from 'Goodfellas' or 'The Godfather' even though they are both supposed to be loner, anti-heroes with a strong moral ethic.

Denzel Washington portrays Lucas as a business man who wants to answer to nobody, running the show and demanding complete loyalty from his inner circle. He also wants anonymity, a lack of a public persona that will keep him off the police radar for as long as possible. This is a role that Washington thrives with but the limitations of the characters development and speed in which the character changes his approach after been confronted by Roberts. With Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, the character is portrayed as the only honest cop in the force but constantly lies to his wife, has numerous affairs and enjoys a drink. Neither of these characters is in anyway appealing so you never get the feeling that you should be rooting for either one of them.

The story itself is slow and meandering as we see Lucas build up his criminal empire and Roberts start and build his investigation. The lack of action doesn't help either and the fact that the two screen heavyweights don't share the screen until the final few scenes may come as a disappointment to fans.

'American Gangster' is a slight disappointment. For a film that had the potential to be a crime epic, it just becomes a run of the mill exposé into how Frank Lucas became such a powerful man and how he was brought down by Richie Roberts. With a conclusion that lack real punch but performances that keep you interested, the film is still good but not the masterpiece that some people might have been expecting.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Disc 1

Feature Commentary with director Ridley Scott and writer Steven Zaillian
The great director and his writer provide an interesting and informative commentary for 'American Gangster'. One of the greatest filmmakers of his time, Ridley Scott provides his usual excellent commentary, revealing his thoughts on the story, characters, cast and the look and feel of the movie. Steven Zaillian talks about bringing these two real life characters to life on the screen, there contribution and the research he had to do into the time. This is a good track that fans of the film will enjoy listening to.

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes (3.48 mins)
Entitled 'Alternate opening' and 'Frank and Eva's wedding', these two deleted scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track or introduction to explain why they were cut, which is strange for a Ridley Scott film.

Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster (78.17 mins)
Director Ridley Scott, producer Brian Glazer, executive producers Nicholas Pileggi and Branko Lustig, costume designer Janty Yates, production designer Arthur Max, stars Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Cuba Gooding Jr and Lymari Nadal and the real Frank Lucas, Dickie Lucas and Richie Roberts take you behind the scenes of the making of 'American Gangster'. Split into sections entitled 'Tru Blu: The Real Story', 'Killer Threads: Costumes', 'Crime War: Production', 'Into the Arena: Ali vs. Frazier' and 'Rhythm of the Street: Sound, Music and Editing', this documentary covers every aspect of the film's production and reveals more about the relationship between the real Frank Lucas and Ritchie Roberts.

Case Files (24.51 mins)
Watch behind the scenes footage of Ridley Scott at work in these three behind the scenes featurettes entitled 'Script meeting', 'Heroin test show and tell' and 'Setting up the takedown'. These reveal how much research and preparation go into making a movie like this and what Ridley Scott's working practices are like.

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for 'American Gangster' is very good but not as good as you'd expect from Ridley Scott. All of the special editions of his movies are superb and set the standard for everyone else to follow but this two disc set is still very good. The inclusion of two versions of the movie, with the director's cut having an extra eighteen minutes worth of footage, the long documentary and the behind the scenes footage, make this an excellent package for fans but those Ridley Scott fans might be expecting a little bit more.

DVD

Goodfellas

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2007