Letters to the Editor
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Denzel forced to eat Crowe
The movie isn't as awful as the review denounces, but clicheed editing and character portrayals hide a simple truth: Actors require direction to achieve a unified goal... a good film. The tectonic plates of industry meet the airy diatribe of art.
It's heroin vs. morality, with a little acting thrown in. If the project is BLADERUNNER, then Harrison Ford should play the Cop. If TRAINING DAY, then Denzel needs to play Scarface-in-a-nice-suit... sans self-destruction and caricatured accent.
But it's AN AMERICAN IN GANGSTERLAND - '60's Harlem - that we must visit without a Director's Pass. The screenwriter was so in love with his own work that he forgot to complete all three acts - instead, creating triple-plays, vignettes and signature pieces to "buck up" his rep - downright Hollywrite disrespect for the movie audience, surely smarter than nonse-quit-ers yet undone by magazines scribed for Oxford-on-Thames readers who rarely visit upon the hoi polloi, or any polloi, for that matter.
One strong character - The Gangster, one weak character - The Ultimate Fighting (cops' crime game) Champ = Audience Dismay.
STorytelling demands BAlance and VErve, not VOyeur-istic NErve!
Even Harry Potter couldn't hold up without Hermione, nee Mr."D" sans object d'vivre: Play against Type, Risk succumbing to Snype.
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seems like a real gender split
Men from the WSJ and Washington Post loved this movie. Women frm Salon and Slate didn't like it. Not entirely unexpected, given that it's a gangster movie, I guess. Still, interesting.
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On NPR there was the obligatory
This is horrible for the black community.....
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Ridley Scott ...
... has directed precisely one good film in his career (Alien) and that was nearly 30 years ago. Why should anyone be surprised that SZ has nothing good to say about this person's work?
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Apt song choice
Was the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" chosen because Washington played the Devil narrator/cop in "Fallen" (not "good" per se, but interesting) & that played over the credits, or am I reading too much into this? :)
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"Not entirely unexpected, given that it's a gangster movie, I guess."
Yeah, I don't know any women who liked "The Godfather."
Jesus, people. Think.
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I'm female and I loved this movie
@Grenville: Excuse me, but Ridley Scott directed "Blade Runner" -- one of the all-time classics! "Alien" is not his only good film.
And "American Gangster" may have a few flaws, but overall, I really enjoyed this film. There are some amazing performances -- especially by Denzel and Ruby Dee. I hope they are nominated. The film is beautifully photographed and the entire look is very authentic. But most of all, this is a true story that I found very engrossing. I was captivated by Frank Lucas's story -- avoiding the middle man and smuggling pure heroin through military planes carrying coffins from Vietnam, and how he built a NINE figure empire in 1960s Harlem, and yet remained under the radar for so many years.
(Some of the things about which Zacharek complains are factual events that actually happened -- at least according to the magazine article, "The Return of Superfly," which inspired the making of this film. So if Zaillian had changed the facts in his script, then Zacharek probably would have complained that the script was factually inaccurate!)
This has not been a stellar year for movie-going thus far, so I really have to say that "American Gangster" is a stand-out. It's easily the best film I've seen in '07.
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hola anonymous
Jesus indeed anonymous. From a shear volume standpoint, there are far more men who WORSHIP the godfather movies, quote them line for line, etc. than there are women. Do you know one woman who does this? The sopranos, as artfully done as it was, was still rooted in macho wackings and strippers and drugs and extramarital affairs -- the pitfalls of these things notwithstanding, men watched the show for those things. How many Joe Pesci impersonating women do you know -- not the sarcastic kind, but the flattering kind.
From the standpoint of looking at a sample of Americans, I would argue any random sample of any size from any region of the country, you'll find a higher percentage of men who like gangster-themed entertainment than women. If this is getting to hard, anonymous, feel free to call to Jesus at any time.
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Crowe's "Star Quality"?
Russell Crowe has the mentality and almost the requisite talent to play a B-Movie-grade thug/low life,also known as type casting.
Unfortunately Mr.Crowe's total lack of charisma or exciting allure and what was once termed "star quality" obviously hasn't been an impediment to him in todays's Hollywood.
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The writer . . .
said nothing about worshipping, quoting, etc. The writer said women don't "like" gangster movies. That's a sexist assumption. Not just The Godfather . . . any gangster movie. And I know plenty of women who like them. And if you read the essay Sarah Vowell wrote on The Godfather a few years back, you'll find a woman indulging in the obsessive behavior you describe as entirely male.
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Chill out, King of Chill
and speak for yourself. Crowe's talent and charisma are almost chiche by now, they are so obvious. He can play anything not just thugs. Have you seen "Cinderella Man"? The humility and tenderness he displayed in that role could break your heart. Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand was beautifully nuanced.
But it's his face I go to see. Actors these days seem incapable of acting with their faces, but Crowe has mastered the art. What other actor do you know of who can seem an innocent boy in one instance and a ravening satyr the next? Behold the scene in "Gladiator" when Commodus is taunting Maximus with descriptions of how his family died. The subtle and fleeting but unmistakable look of excruciating pain for himself mixed with compassion for his family was a brave choice for an actor-most would evince a cartoonish furrowed brow vengeful rage. That singular moment is probably the reason producer Douglas Wick, who, upon accepting the best picture Oscar for “Gladiator,” thanked Russell Crowe, adding, “You filled a whole arena with the force of your face.”
Russell Crowe's face-one of the best of many reasons to go see "American Gangster",Ms. Zacharek's disdain notwithstanding.
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Roberts' concerns seem so dated and quaint compared with today
His dual enemies are drug traffickers (Lucas is so canny and elusive that for most of the movie, Roberts has no idea who he's really looking for) and the crooked cops who are more concerned with making money off those traffickers than with catching them
If you set the story in northern Mexico, then his circle of concern would widen to include the army that's been sent in to replace the crooked drug cops, and is now accused of raping and torturing civilians.
That's the problem with a movie like this. Who really cares if you knock the CEO out of business? There's always a senior vice president waiting for his turn. And who cares if you get rid of one corrupt cop? There's always another waiting to replace him.
Nothing the hero does can ever really change the situation. So he never really gets to be a hero.
Mexico got rid of all their drug cops, period, because they all got corrupted by the cartels. But now they have to deal with rape and torture by a corrupted army. Whoopee!
I wonder what kind of "drug dealer vs. drug cops" movie we'll get next. I suppose eventually we'll get a movie about northern Mexico, if it still exists by the time the movie gets made.