American Gangster







Director - Ridley Scott

Genre - Crime/Drama/Thriller


Based on the true story of drug dealer Frank Lucas, this movie hits most of the notes correctly but feels a bit predictable. Although the performances of Denzel and Russell are good it offers nothing new in terms of being a gangster flick. Too many great gangster or underworld movies have come before this. It's an entertaining enough take on a genre that Hollywood seems to be obsessed about though.

3 STARS!

All about American Gangster

Comments

David said…
Sure it is a fair enough assessment, but I really liked American Gangster. Ridley Scott gave it his unique touch which really helped to separate this from the average movie even though it was supposed to be a main stream blockbuster.
April 15, 2008 at 2:41 AM
scituate said…
I liked it, (3 stars is about right) but there wasn't really anything new there. I preferred the less epic in scope drug/mafia movies that came out around the same time, like Eastern Promises or We Own The Night.
April 15, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Nayana Anthony said…
You are spot-on with this review.

Welcome to the LAMB!
April 16, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Tony Tanti said…
Funny to call a movie predictable when it is about a true story.

I hear what you're saying about the genre being overdone but this one, in my opinion, is one of the best in this genre in a long time.

Lots of genres are overdone and we don't hold that against new movies in those categories. Buddy cop action movies, romantic comedies...

Anyway, I like your site but I loved American Gangster so I thought I'd defend it.
April 18, 2008 at 2:05 PM
1minutefilmreview said…
Thanks for the comment Tony. American Gangster is not a documentary. Therefore, when we stated that it was a bit predictable it was in the context of it being a movie. Measures could have been taken to make the script stand out more from other movies of this genre. The fact that the uninspiring cinematography added nothing to the film is also part of our beef. Still, we gave it 3 stars, primarily for the good acting.
April 19, 2008 at 1:33 AM
Hal C. F. Astell said…
Hola. I was going to link my review and realised I never wrote one. We got in to see American Gangster for free and there were points where I wanted my money back. It was OK, I guess, but was a great disappointment given the people involved. I kept wishing Denzel Washington would have played Frank instead of the actor who sleepwalked through this film. I kept wishing someone like Ridley Scott would have directed so it would have had some vision. Sigh.
April 24, 2008 at 9:06 PM
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