Actors shine in American Gangster
American Gangster
Tons of action and big actors combine to give American Gangster an edge over other drug lord movies.
Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) comes from a low class, single parent home in the southern States. He is the driver for one of Harlem, New York's biggest crime lords. After the sudden and surprising death of his boss, Frank sees himself as the next logical person to climb the crime food chain. Devising an excellent business plan to wipe out the competition, Frank travels to Vietnam to acquire pure Heroin straight from the source. His product “Blue Magic” does just that, by being better and cheaper than everything else. Being strong, smart, stubborn and tough quickly puts Frank at the top of the food chain, having even police officers answering to him. He soon moves his entire family up to New York City to help run his drug dealing business. Frank went from having nothing to having everything including many homes, a wife and more money than he could ever imagine.
Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is a New Jersey police officer, whose wife is leaving him and taking their son. On top of that, he is the straightest cop around and is continuously making enemies within the precinct for such actions as turning in $1 million of dirty money. After reporting his own partner for drug use and theft, Ritchie is asked to lead a special narcotics team for the CIA in the fight against drugs. He is relentless in his investigation and desire to bring down the bad guy. It is the path of these two characters and their intertwined lives that keeps the audience glued to their seats.
I loved this movie. I felt that the plot was very strong and it had great climactic action. Both Washington (Inside Man) and Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) were amazing. They both are such strong and talented actors and they really added a lot of depth to this movie. I really enjoyed how similar their characters were when it came to their concrete ethics and pride, but at the same time completely opposite from one another. At many times throughout the movie you like and dislike, pity, admire and even route for both Frank and Ritchie. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a very diverse and different kind of action movie.
Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. Admire both Frank and Ritchie differently.
Tons of action and big actors combine to give American Gangster an edge over other drug lord movies.
Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) comes from a low class, single parent home in the southern States. He is the driver for one of Harlem, New York's biggest crime lords. After the sudden and surprising death of his boss, Frank sees himself as the next logical person to climb the crime food chain. Devising an excellent business plan to wipe out the competition, Frank travels to Vietnam to acquire pure Heroin straight from the source. His product “Blue Magic” does just that, by being better and cheaper than everything else. Being strong, smart, stubborn and tough quickly puts Frank at the top of the food chain, having even police officers answering to him. He soon moves his entire family up to New York City to help run his drug dealing business. Frank went from having nothing to having everything including many homes, a wife and more money than he could ever imagine.
Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is a New Jersey police officer, whose wife is leaving him and taking their son. On top of that, he is the straightest cop around and is continuously making enemies within the precinct for such actions as turning in $1 million of dirty money. After reporting his own partner for drug use and theft, Ritchie is asked to lead a special narcotics team for the CIA in the fight against drugs. He is relentless in his investigation and desire to bring down the bad guy. It is the path of these two characters and their intertwined lives that keeps the audience glued to their seats.
I loved this movie. I felt that the plot was very strong and it had great climactic action. Both Washington (Inside Man) and Crowe (3:10 to Yuma) were amazing. They both are such strong and talented actors and they really added a lot of depth to this movie. I really enjoyed how similar their characters were when it came to their concrete ethics and pride, but at the same time completely opposite from one another. At many times throughout the movie you like and dislike, pity, admire and even route for both Frank and Ritchie. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a very diverse and different kind of action movie.
Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. Admire both Frank and Ritchie differently.
