American Gangster" is a perfectly fine crime movie but it's not a great crime movie and the reason is that Ridley Scott isn't Martin Scorsese and the best he can bring to the picture is a solid professionalism which, of course, is no bad thing. It's the story of Frank Lucas, (Denzel Washington), a New York drugs lord who was brought down by a dogged, honest cop, (Russell Crowe).
They are the lynch pins of an excellent cast that also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr. And Armand Assante. If Crowe is clearly 'acting' his little cotton socks off, Washington is casually inhabiting his character, quietly beautiful and truly terrifying and owning every scene in which he appears. It's a beautiful piece of acting because he doesn't seem to be acting at all. So yes then, a very solid entertainment that could have been so much more.
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