Ridley Scott may have just finally won himself an Oscar. Don’t take that to mean I think American Gangster is the best film this acclaimed director with the rather hit (Blade Runner, Alien, The Duelists, Gladiator, Matchstick Men, Black Hawk Down ) or miss (White Squall, Black Rain, Someone to Watch Over Me, 1492: Conquest for Paradise) career has ever made because it isn’t. That said, much like Martin Scorsese with The Departed this one is just fantastic enough to make me believe the two-time nominee’s day has finally come, this based-on-a-true-story crime epic as kinetically entertaining a picture as any the filmmaker is ever likely to craft. 

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe face off in Universal Pictures' American Gangster

Which, truth be told, is more then fine be me. American Gangster is a gritty, hard-boiled, viscerally exhilarating procedural thriller crackling in dynamic authenticity. The story of 1970’s black entrepreneur and mob kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and the driven hard-nosed police officer Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) who brought him down, this is the kind of old-school New York Hollywood entertainment we seldom get the chance to see anymore.

In other words, I really liked it. Maybe not so much as David Fincher’s rather similar if even more spectacular Zodiac (released to so much acclaim and yet so little audience earlier this year) but more than enough all the same. Scott tones down his usual visual exuberance to paint a picture past titans like Sydney Lumet, Alan J. Pakula, Robert Siodmak and Henry Hathaway were universally known for, every beat, every move and every angle of the picture constantly driving things forward and never taking attention away from the absorbingly complex drama playing itself out onscreen.

It almost goes without saying, but screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) has done a remarkable job here. The story follows Lucas from his start on the streets of Harlem as he quickly and quietly uses the ongoing war in Vietnam to aid in his rise to power, quickly supplanting the established white mobsters used to controlling the drug traffic into the city. At the same time he parallels this with the story of Roberts, an honest cop amidst an oceanic tidal wave of corruption thanks to the obscene amounts of money being thrown into the system by the criminals looking to go unnoticed. He's a man beaten down for his integrity, and the only thing he has to gain from taking down Lucas is a little confirmation of his own moral self worth.

Deftly playing one tale against the other, Scott and Zaillian weave a complex narrative that’s downright fascinating, much of it peppered with actors one would think were downright giddy for the opportunity to gobble them up. When was the last time Armand Assante or Cuba Gooding, Jr. did anything of note? How often do rap artists like Common, Rza or T.I. get roles as diverse and three dimensional as these? Rarely is the answer, and needless to say each and every one of these men makes the most of the opportunity as if the entire remainder of their careers were riding on the outcome.

Yet for me, the supporting cast begins and ends with Ruby Dee and Josh Brolin. One is a mother ecstatic for her son’s success yet absolutely horrified at the cost of it, the other is a dirty detective whose prickly demeanor masks a snide cocksure carnality screaming of privilege. Neither has a lot of screen time yet both make an indelible impression, and by the time the film was over I almost couldn’t imaging the picture without it containing either one of them.

But the main draw here, of course, is the pairing of Washington and Crowe and, rest assured, neither Oscar-winner disappoints. Both are so near the top of their respective games watching them is an out-and-out joy. These aren’t your typical good cop/bad criminal archetypes; these are flesh and blood men full of emotion and complexity. Without them Scott and Zaillian would have nothing. With them their film attains near transcendent brilliance, and if that remark isn’t testament enough to just how magnificent they both are I’m not sure what else I could say.

All this said, I can’t claim everything is perfect. The filmmakers have pared the film down almost too much, and while it runs just over 150 or so minutes Scott keeps the tempo revving so fast some of the intricacies driving both the two men as well as their methods gets lost amidst much of the constantly pulsating chaos. More, when the final denouement comes sad to say but it is actually kind of a letdown, the climactic showdown between these two so underwhelming it could almost be considered anemic. 

Thankfully none of this hurts anywhere near like it could. Overall, this drama is one heck of a ride and one I wouldn’t mind taking many times over. While it was on I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, the picture keeping me so enthralled I lost track of both time and place completely. And if in the end the film does finally when Scott an Oscar I certainly won’t complain, because while I personally don’t think this one’s his best like The Departed its just too damn good to put up much of a stink saying so. Like a shot of adrenaline injected straight into the heart, American Gangster is definitely one worth savoring.

Film Rating: êêê1/2  (out of 4)

Additonal Links:

-  American Gangster Theatrical Trailer