2008 Woodie Awards
American Gangster so-so
Seth Miller/Pounce Photo Editor
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: in Review(s)
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Overall: three/five stars
I have mentioned before that the race for the Academy Awards has already begun. I know it is only November but movies are already coming out of the woodwork to get the gold. So what are the films that will get the Academy's attention?
One way to get noticed come awards time is to pile on as many Oscar-winning actors and directors onto a standard awards type movie like a crime drama about some kingpin ruling a city through his illegal enterprises and cops trying to bring them down.
This brings me to the next movie to be reviewed this week, a film just like that came out called "American Gangster" starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, directed by Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott.
Washington plays real-life Frank Lucas, who starts off as a chauffeur for a local crime boss but decides to make something of himself and live the American dream. Sounds nice except for the fact he is going to get rich by getting heroin from Vietnam, sell it to addicts, beat down anybody who fails him, and he also kills a lot of people who make him angry.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Crowe's character of Richie Roberts; he is the only good cop in New York City while every other cop he knows takes bribes and sells drugs they took from other dealers.
While he isn't a crooked cop he also is a womanizer, has friends who are in the mafia, and avoids being a responsible father to his son. The film follows the two as they deal with their own problems in the grim and gritty setting of 1970s New York City.
While some people have been praising this movie as an Oscar contender, I have to say I was not that impressed with it.
While Scott does a good job telling the story of Frank Lucas, it is essentially the same story as every other crime movie. The villain reaches the top and then gradually loses it all; the hero has to deal with corrupt cops and bosses who don't believe him.
This kind of story has been told in dozens of other movies and watching it again in this movie just feels a bit tired.
The thing keeping this movie together is the acting by Washington and Crowe, although I was not impressed with Washington as much. Sure acting like a criminal and brutal murderer is something new for him, oh wait, he played a ruthless villain in Training Day. I've seen enough of these movies to know what's going to happen and I've already seen Washington play this role before; still it is entertaining enough to keep me from giving a completely bad review.
I have mentioned before that the race for the Academy Awards has already begun. I know it is only November but movies are already coming out of the woodwork to get the gold. So what are the films that will get the Academy's attention?
One way to get noticed come awards time is to pile on as many Oscar-winning actors and directors onto a standard awards type movie like a crime drama about some kingpin ruling a city through his illegal enterprises and cops trying to bring them down.
This brings me to the next movie to be reviewed this week, a film just like that came out called "American Gangster" starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, directed by Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott.
Washington plays real-life Frank Lucas, who starts off as a chauffeur for a local crime boss but decides to make something of himself and live the American dream. Sounds nice except for the fact he is going to get rich by getting heroin from Vietnam, sell it to addicts, beat down anybody who fails him, and he also kills a lot of people who make him angry.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Crowe's character of Richie Roberts; he is the only good cop in New York City while every other cop he knows takes bribes and sells drugs they took from other dealers.
While he isn't a crooked cop he also is a womanizer, has friends who are in the mafia, and avoids being a responsible father to his son. The film follows the two as they deal with their own problems in the grim and gritty setting of 1970s New York City.
While some people have been praising this movie as an Oscar contender, I have to say I was not that impressed with it.
While Scott does a good job telling the story of Frank Lucas, it is essentially the same story as every other crime movie. The villain reaches the top and then gradually loses it all; the hero has to deal with corrupt cops and bosses who don't believe him.
This kind of story has been told in dozens of other movies and watching it again in this movie just feels a bit tired.
The thing keeping this movie together is the acting by Washington and Crowe, although I was not impressed with Washington as much. Sure acting like a criminal and brutal murderer is something new for him, oh wait, he played a ruthless villain in Training Day. I've seen enough of these movies to know what's going to happen and I've already seen Washington play this role before; still it is entertaining enough to keep me from giving a completely bad review.
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