“Crime” is defined as an “offence” against law. It has no limits, can take any form and exists across the world irrespective of race, religion, culture or country. When committing organized crime becomes a career of choice, a “Gangster” is born! No matter what career choices we make, most of us try hard to succeed at it, whether it is on the right or wrong side of the law, for success has its own high!
In his latest offering, “American Gangster” director Ridley Scott takes us through a journey into the world ofFrank Lucas - one of the thriving Black American gangsters of his time. Born and raised in North Carolina, Frank Lucas moved to New York in search of greener pastures and tasted unprecedented success in his “career” as a drug-lord. He ruled the roost in New York City’s “Harlem” area, located in Upper Manhattan. An area rich in history, where many black Americans moved in from the southern states rejoicing their freedom from the world of slavery down south.
*Opening Scene- Harlem, New York, November 1968
*It’s late at night, light snow showers in the air.
-The camera focuses on a Jazz Club. In the next shot, we see a man get out of his car, enter the basement of the club, talk to a couple of guys. Next moment he shoots them in cold blood and leaves.
Credits Roll – Its Thanksgiving holiday and Americans all over are celebrating. A well-dressed, elderly black man, named Bumpy Johnson(Clarence Williams III) is seen donating goodies and food items to the poor. He is watched closely by the same gun-man from the club. The gun-man – Frank Lucas(Denzel Washington) is none other than Bumpy Johnson’s driver, body guard and protégé. One day while the two stop by a store, Bumpy takes ill and breathes his last. The audience then learns that Bumpy Johnson was a renowned mobster, the kingpin from Harlem.
Frank considered him to be his mentor. With his mentor gone, Frank ponders over his future and makes a career decision – He decides to set up his own business. In the era of Vietnam war, Frank comes up with an idea for transporting drugs into the US. An idea that no one had ever dreamt of before. He heads East to the jungles of Vietnam and then Thailand, in order to put his thoughts into action.
As the audience is engrossed in following Frank’s actions in the wrong side of the law, the director introduces us to the other principal character of the film – Richie Roberts(Russell Crowe) a man who belongs to the “right-side” of the law. An honest cop to the core – though his life is anything but perfect. He is unkempt, cheats on his wife, his marriage is on the rocks and he even loses custody of his son.
The rest of the film follows Frank’s rise to extraordinary heights as a drug-lord, his personal life and his inevitable fall. What sets the movie apart is the fact that it is not an ordinary cat and mouse or a good guy vs. bad guy game. The director has done a superlative job in building the characters. He manages to keep the audience glued to the screen through out, with several twists and turns that hold you at the edge of your seats. Scott has also brought out some of the relevant aspects of society –racism(the cops for the longest of time could not pin down the culprit as it was hard for them to believe that a black man would be behind the drug menace at a time when Italian mobsters called the shots) and corruption that exists within the police department and outside.
Denzel has given a knock out performance and has justified the many shades given to his character. He is a loving husband, a dutiful son and brother, yet a cold, calculating ruthless gangster when it comes to business. His character maintains a low profile through out except for a few loud moments, which were required during some of the confrontation scenes.
This is Russell Crowe’s third film with Ridely Scott. Prior to this, he did “Gladiator”(which won him an Oscar) and “The Good Year” which was a comedy. I personally had not liked “Gladiator” much, but simply loved the biographical story telling by Scott in “American Gangster”. Russell Crowe has come up with a fine performance again as the “not so perfect guy” who gets nervous when it comes to public speaking, and is constantly fighting his own demons though he is a pro at his job.
Denzel and Russell had appeared together in the past in “Virtuosity” where their roles were reversed. In “American Gangster” Denzel and Russell come face to face only toward the climax and it is one of the best scenes of the film.
Some of the other memorable sequences:
1] When Frank’s family moves to New York, he shows his estate and mansion to his family. He takes his ecstatic mom aside and says “this is for you mom” – This scene reminded me of a similar sequence by Amitabh in “Deewar”
2] When Richie retrieves a million dollars from a raid and turns it over to the police department in spite of repeated pleas from his partner not to do so.
3] When Frank is having breakfast and Tango comes up to him proclaiming himself to be the new landlord after Bumpy- Frank’s cold shoulder act in reaction to him was superb!
4] When Frank shoots Tango in his head, in broad daylight, wipes his hands and coolly returns back to eating breakfast with his brothers.
5] When Frank burns the fancy overcoat given to him by his wife. The first time he learns he was under police surveillance. He maintains a stoic silence and lets his eyes convey his anger and emotion.
Though the film follows the story of Frank over a few years, most of the shots shown are “winter shots” with light snow or rain in the background, when the sky is gray. This parallels the gray shades of the characters in the film. In keeping with the mood, during the few bright sunlight shots that we have, silhouettes of the characters are shown speaking to each other. The supporting cast has done a fantastic job. Special mention to Josh Broslin who plays the corrupt cop and holds his own even in the presence of Denzel and Russell. Lymari Nadal as Denzels’ wife looks beautiful and fits the character like a hand in a glove. The background music is apt and sets the mood of the film.
When it comes to this genre of films, one can’t help but think of cult classics like ‘The God Father’, ‘Good Fellas’, ‘Scarface’ and compare Scott to directors like Francis Ford Coppolla, Scorsese or De Palma.
In that sense, I feel that Scott still has ways to go, but this movie was a fine attempt. While ‘God Father’, ‘Good Fellas’ dealt with Italian mobsters and ‘Scarface’ was the story of a Cuban immigrant, ‘American Gangster’ introduces us to a cold, calculating anti-hero from a traditional Southern family. The approach is fairly non-linear and the treatment is very different.
Without comparing the two, I would say:
-If Scorsese gave us “Gangs of New York”, Ridely Scott gives us “An American Gangster”!
Is this film a contender for the Oscars– You can bet on it!
