American Gangster

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% (19/04/2020)

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! (03/01/2008)

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. (03/02/2008)

"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. (09/02/2022)

Impressed by its high ratings and aware that it was one of the most acclaimed films of last year, I expected an exceptional experience that did not materialize, though this is not to say it was a bad film. However, many gangster epics have been produced in the United States, and Ridley Scott's film does not rank among the very best. My favorites remain the older films by Scorsese and Coppola. Ridley Scott adds perhaps only racial issues and the trauma of the Vietnam War to the classic gangster theme. The first half of the film moves at a slow pace, and Russell Crowe seemed quite unremarkable to me. Most of the scenes felt familiar, as if I had seen them somewhere before, and they could have been shot with a bit more atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is a high-budget blockbuster, skillfully edited, with excellent music and good actors. Overall impression: 75%. (10/02/2008)