American Gangster (HD DVD)

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As I sit down to write my thoughts on this HD-DVD release of "American Gangster," the predominant thought is that this title may very well be the final new title from Universal on the format. The studio has "Fletch" listed for a March 11th release and that catalog title may or may not see the light of day, but if it does it will likely be the very final HD-DVD release from the former strong supporter of Toshiba´s high definition format. On the day when Toshiba laid its beloved format to rest, Universal quickly aligned themselves with Blu-ray and after canceling a few upcoming re-releases of some HD-DVD / DVD Combo format titles, the final stream of films is upon us. I am saddened to see HD-DVD go the way of the LaserDisc, but once the Blu-ray format is finalized and players that are capable of playing Profile 2.0 are available, I will start saying goodbye to my extensive collection of HD-DVD titles. "American Gangster" will be one of the very final releases to sit on my HD-DVD shelf.

The film finds the power trio of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott combining their talents to bring the true-life story of Harlem gangster Frank Lucas. With two of today´s finest actors and an A-List director, "American Gangster" is a capable film that suffers from bending the truth a little too much to make one man´s story far more entertaining than it was in reality, but if you take "American Gangster" with a huge grain of salt, it is an entertaining and convincing film. While the real Frank Lucas has praised the film and its star and suggested it is an accurate portrayal (the film is based in part on Lucas´ novel), others have come forth and stated that the film does not accurately portray most of its events and the story is more fictitious than it is truthful. Others that featured in the film have rejected many of the key plotlines in the film. More on that later.

Denzel Washington is Frank Lucas. Russell Crowe is New Jersey detective Richie Roberts. Lucas begins in the film as the driver for renowned and respected gangster Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III). Bumpy is loved by the residents of Harlem and viewed as a ´Robin Hood´ of the black community. He hands out turkeys for Thanksgiving, but rules with an iron fist over his constituents. One day while stopping into an electronics store, Bumpy has a fatal heart attack and leaves his empire in the hands of his driver, Lucas, who he has slowly groomed to carry on Bumpy´s business. As Bumpy´s driver, Lucas was able to witness all of Bumpy´s daily interactions and transactions and has a strong understanding of how to do business on the streets.

Lucas is not shown respect when Bumpy first passes, but he quickly uses whatever force is necessary to run Harlem more effectively than Bumpy had previously done. He brings his mother and family from North Carolina to help run his business and they each take over a supporting business of the Lucas´ crime empire to assist in moving the drugs that Lucas calls ´Blue Magic.´ His mother (Ruby Dee) is given ownership of a beautiful mansion and his brothers Huey (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Turner (Common) and Stevie (Clifford Joseph Harris) are quick to embrace the rich lifestyle provided by Frank. The key move that allows Lucas to succeed against rival drug czars such as Nick Barnes (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Dominic Cattano (Armand Assante) is by importing his drugs directly from Vietnam by using American military planes and personnel to bring his illegal product into the country.

Meanwhile, Richie Roberts and his partner Javier Rivera (John Ortiz) have a stake out go bad and recover a million dollars of unmarked bills. They turn the money over to the police department, but their act of honesty turns many cops against them as their honesty and integrity are questioned by police officers that are either clean or dirty. With no trust among his fellow officers, Roberts finds his life struggling even further. His estranged wife Laurie (Carla Gugino) is threatening to take his son to Las Vegas and away from her cheating husband and the dangerous line of work Roberts performs. He is also taking night classes to become a lawyer and finds it difficult to juggle his career and his studies.

A turn of events finds Roberts being tasked by his captain, Lou Toback (Ted Levine), to create a new task force with the sole intent on bringing down key figures in the drug trafficking and selling business in the tri-state area. Roberts investigates a number of key suspects, but eventually his leads all begin to point towards Frank Lucas as being the new kingpin. Roberts finds Lucas and his people the lesser danger in bringing the criminal to justice as crooked cops such as Detective Trupo (Josh Brolin) are putting the heat on Roberts to leave their cash cow Frank Lucas alone. Roberts eventually finds enough evidence to gain a subpoena and bring down the drug packaging facility run by Lucas. This creates a partnership between Lucas and Roberts where they work together to bring down drug dealers and dirty police officers as part of a plea bargain.

Denzel Washington is simply one of the finest actors to live. Period. He is incredible in his portrayal of Frank Lucas and while the truth may be suspect, the real Frank Lucas has stated that Washington perfectly captured his likeness and personality. As Lucas, Washington is always thinking and always aware of his surroundings. He is calculating and precise in his business and only Denzel Washington can bring the businesslike honesty of the character in the manner in which he has done. Lucas is a dangerous man, but also a caring man and this juxtaposition of personality is something else that only an actor of Washington´s caliber can deliver. Some could argue that Washington´s performance is akin to other films he has starred in, but I find it a performance worthwhile of an Oscar Nomination.

Russell Crowe is a character actor in every sense of the word. For a man known for his leading man looks and capable physique, Crowe is hardly noticeable as Richie Roberts. He has once again gained a good deal of weight to bring believability to his character and his Seventies-styled haircut fits the bill perfectly. Crowe may not deliver as solid a performance as Denzel Washington, but he does a formidable job of portraying a tough city cop in a decade when the world was quite different. As I watched the film I couldn´t help but believe that Crowe is destined to portray Steve Irwin at some point in the future, but this notion was only due to a similarity in build, hairstyle and the fact I know they are both Aussies. Crowe is stellar as a New Jersey cop.

The supporting cast is also worth mentioning. Ted Levine is making a name for himself in portraying police Captains or others in a position of power. He does a great job here. John Hawkes is one of my favorite supporting characters since I became hooked on HBO´s "Deadwood" and he has a small role in the film, but makes the best of his screen time. Ruby Dee is a wonderful lady and quite convincing opposite Washington. Rappers Common and RZA handle their roles just fine and it seems that today´s raptors (Rapper-Actors) are making the transition easily from microphone to camera. Norman Reedus and Josh Brolin are other familiar faces that are weaved nicely into Ridley Scott´s vision of the life of Frank Lucas. Up and coming Chiwetel Ejiofor has a nice supporting role as does veteran actor Armand Assante.

Director Ridley Scott has had his hits and he has had his misses. "American Gangster" is an epic story of the corruption of New York City police officers and the rise of one of America´s most successful gangsters, Frank Lucas. He has either taken a great deal of liberties with the story or involved himself too closely with Lucas´ own opinion of himself and the film has been surrounded with a deal of controversy. The real Richie Roberts has become friends with Lucas and has stated that many of the events in the film are fictitious. Police officers that were involved in events depicted in the film have come forth and sued Universal for deformation of character. There is also no evidence that Lucas ever used the caskets of American soldiers to traffic drugs.

With the inaccuracies and controversy in mind, it is hard to gauge of how much fact is contained within the film´s long running time of 158 minutes. I had not known about the fictitious nature of the film and was impressed with the stories of Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas, but now I do feel somewhat betrayed in knowing much of the film is likely rubbish. When watching the film for this HD-DVD review, I was aware of the historical inaccuracies, but I now find myself entertained by a highly entertaining story of an American gangster and it is hard to escape the allure of a film as finely crafted and well acted as this Ridley Scott picture. The movie may be a tall tale, but it is a tall tale worth listening to. Perhaps "American Gangster" is geared more towards delivering Frank Lucas´ vision of himself and not what really happened, it is a well crafted and acted film and shouldn´t be ignored simply because it stretches the truth.

I enjoyed "American Gangster" a great deal and have seen the film now three times. The first time I watched the film was theatrically on opening night. The second two times were to screen the two versions contained on this HD-DVD / DVD Combo Format release. After three viewings, I would not have any difficulty in watching the movie again. The movie brings to life New York City in the Seventies and this film is far more powerful than any of the countless CSI spinoffs on television. I love a film that tells a story and tells it well. I don´t watch a movie solely for the purpose of being educated. If that was the case, I would never leave home and sit back and indulge in the History Channel or the Discovery Channel. There is enough truth in "American Gangster" to make it worth my time, but Denzel Washington makes the film well worth my time.