In an attention-grabbing opening scene, American Gangster starts with Denzel Washington’s portrayal of real-life criminal Frank Lucas—then still a lowly chauffeur—burning a man alive and then putting two in his head. Fade to black, cue five magic words: Based on a true story. That’s what the film is proud enough to announce. Yet it’s more mythic than anything else. American Gangster plays more like folklore or urban legend than true crime; perfect for an all-star, slick-shined, big budget picture. Shoulda called it Hollywood Gangster.
Directed by Gladiator’s Ridley Scott and written by Schindler’s List’s Steven Zaillian, it’s like some sort of obvious Oscar bait that’s just good enough to be immensely entertaining to watch, but not good enough to be an American classic—even though it\'s painfully obvious how badly it wants to be just that.
All-star doesn’t begin to describe it. This movie is littered with recognizable faces and known names, even in the smallest of roles. Yet none of them are given material to suit their talents (save for of course the two mega-star leads). Idris Elba plays a rival gang boss eclipsed by Frank Lucas—funny because Denzel’s Lucas is reminiscent of Elba’s Stringer Bell character on The Wire. Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA plays one of the members of the good guys’ team, and you know who he is because his Wu-Tang logo tattoo is prominently visible in his introduction scene. That’s the kind of small detail and winking references that make up in large the popcorn glossiness of the film. It’s like a The Godfather for an MTV2 audience, and it’s actually close in its scope—however we all know that Godfather is fiction and a romanticized caricature of the real Mafia. Coppola embraced how operatic The Godfather is, and made it iconic. Scott takes American Gangster’s true story back and forth between urban grittiness and over-the-top, which makes this “epic” uneven despite its cool confidence.
What it does right, though, it does very well. At certain points in the story, American Gangster is not so much a mob movie as it is a criticism of American wealth and the American dream of acquiring that wealth. Do you know what makes someone an American gangster, instead of just a gangster?
Capitalism, of course. Pure American business ethics.
Very early in the film, Frank Lucas’ predecessor mourns how big stores are killing the neighborhood business, upsetting the balance of commerce by ordering straight from the manufacturer and cutting out the middleman. This is exactly what Frank Lucas then does to the drug industry. He buys straight from Vietnamese growers, ships them back home in the coffins of dead GIs, and makes a fortune by selling it to junkies at a very low price—effectively killing his competition. History credits Lucas as an innovative drug kingpin, but he’s more than that. He was practicing what would become the business norm of today: monopoly, outsourcing and war profiteering. His "Blue Magic" becomes the Starbucks of heroin. Had Lucas been allowed to perform freely, he probably would have bribed the White House into continuing the Vietnam War.
A problem with gangster movies—and it has plagued the Corleones as well as Tony Montana—is that they tend to be idolized even though they are shamelessly bad guys. American Gangster is no different. While it’s very clear in portraying Lucas as a monster (including a montage comparing his family’s perfect Thanksgiving dinner to the destroyed families of his customers), it’s still a glorification of a black man’s success story in getting himself out of the ghetto, building an empire, providing for his family, and leading his neighborhood. There’s no denying how powerful of a temptation that can be as a role model.
Amazingly, the film addresses that directly! “I took care of Harlem, and Harlem’s gonna take care of me,” Lucas says in the film, referring to the support he has from a community eager for Lucas’ charity. Likewise, his own sweet Church-going mother turns a blind eye to his bidness, so long as she gets to live fat. That is the fraud of Frank Lucas, and that is the fraud of man. How do you tell a philanthropist helping his community from a scumbag bribing future defenders? When it comes down to it, Frank Lucas is a one-man Enron, nothing more.
The film is carried rather heavily by the two leads, which is good because that’s how they marketed it. Going in just for Crowe and Denzel wouldn’t result in disappointment. American Gangster’s structure is a copycat of Michael Mann’s Heat, and when Frank Lucas finally meets his opponent near the end of the film, it’s like Ridley’s endorsing the next generation of Pacino and DeNiro.
"American Gangster" opens November 2, 2007 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Steve Zaillian. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr, Denzel Washington, Idris Elba, Josh Brolin, Russell Crowe.
