Sunday, November 25, 2007

American gangster- yet another gangster movie?



I saw a new movie yesterday- American gangster starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

The movie depicts the crime scene in Harlem, New York during the late 1960s- when American gangsters slowly began to replace the classic Italian mafias. The movie follows the life of one such heroin kingpin, Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington). In the midst of Prohibition and heavy drug abuse in the US, Lucas goes to southeast Asia to buy pure heroin directly from the growers and finds an ingenious way to transport it back to New York. Because of his unique means of supply and transport, he is able to sell the drug in a very pure form for a much cheaper price than the competitors. He calls it 'Blue magic' and it becomes the rage among all the junkies in the city. Lucas quickly becomes a wealthy and powerful drug lord in Harlem.

Russell Crowe plays an honest detective battling against the corrupt New York police department to identify the gang behind 'Blue magic'. He forms a team of small-time but honest detectives and they cleverly investigate the Harlem drug scene.

The story might seem like the usual cop vs. criminal story, but the screenplay is very powerful. It brings out how one man, an African American man slowly takes over the New York drug scene using his clever capitalist ways, leaving the Italian mafia and the police department stunned. The movie succeeds in depicting the gritty underbelly of both the city's crime scene and the police department. Most of the movie is shot in tones of browns and yellows, giving it a musty, raw and almost dirty feel- leaving the viewer with a real sense of what it was like in Harlem at that time.

Having said all that, I also have to confess that the movie did put two of my friends to sleep. If I managed to stay awake, it was partly due to my self control but mostly due to the lack of decent heating in that god forsaken theater. Can't sleep when you are constantly cold! The movie, in an attempt to realistically depict the life of an American gangster, stretches longer than required. Out of the 2 and a half hours, the first half is slow moving; some scenes are unnecessary and almost hinder the storyline. The second half though is gripping and makes up for the first half.

When voting for which movie to watch, I voted against American Gangster- it was my two friends, yes the ones who fell asleep, who picked the movie. I entered the theater thinking... 'Oh gosh, here goes another violent and bloody gang movie where everybody dies in the end.' It was a gang movie and yes, there was some blood and gore, but ironically behind the premise of all that violence, there was a very positive message. A gangster who rises to power in a world where no other man of his kind had ever gained such power; A police officer who solves the case despite all the other corrupt fellow officers standing in his way... If that doesn't say 'you can do whatever you set your mind to' I don't know what does!

10 comments:

Anu said...

hmmmm two and a half hrs of any gangster movie will put me to sleep too.... i guess that movie has become quite a "must watch" one. everyone ssems to be having it on their things-to-do list.

Dhivya said...

@Anu
Really? I didnt know the movie is so hot right now. I actually wanted to see Beowulf.

Viswajith said...

oh no...not another one of those gangster movies...with violence or without violence, them bore me to death...

Karthik Balasubramanian said...

At this point I have just seen the first part of the movie.. I am still searching for the second part..

But like you said.. I had to get a dose of Kill Bill to wake me up from the first half.. It was a very different movie though with Denzel being such a strong silent influence..

Dhivya said...

@Vishwajith
Thats exactly what I thought...but the movie is really not that bad. You should give it a try.

@BK
I would strongly advice u to not give up and find that second half cuz as written in the post, it's loads better than the first half. And yes, Denzel really has an understated role but he does it so well.

Unknown said...

de movie was infact gud...there were lot uf positivez which v cud take from de movie as u mentioned in ur post...but one thing which annoys me is, Frank Lucaz still walks arnd giving interviews even after killing thousands & thousands of people???

Dhivya said...

@vedavyas
Thats true. Actually I read up on the real story of Frank Lucas... and apparently once he came out, he again got caught for drug traffiking and was put back in jail. But I'm not sure how long that sentence lasted. Some ppl never change, I guess.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

You have triggered tha Curiosity to see the movie if it comes here
TC
CU

Anonymous said...

@dhivya
by 1991...und yeah, me too found that interesting fact in wiki!!!

Sowmya said...

The only gangster movie I'll ever watch is Donnie Brasco. For OBVIOUS reasons.