Choosing among all the incredible works and performances that Denzel Washington has delivered over the years is nearly impossible. His presence is one of those that provides a sense of calm when you are about to watch a movie, thanks to a great combination of dedicated professionalism and electric charisma that he wields at will. Is one of those undeniable stars.
However, there are films in his resume that are unquestionable, that have an extraordinary acting job and everything that surrounds him is of a very high level. ‘American Gangster’ is one of them, shining with its own light in a film that is also one of the best that its co-star Russell Crowe and its director Ridley Scott have given. Now it can be enjoyed on Amazon Prime Video, in the same way that it could be seen on Netflix or Movistar +.
The two faces of the American dream
The film tells the true story of Frank Lucas, a man who goes from being the driver of a major Harlem mobster (whose life we see in the popular series ‘The Godfather of Harlem’) to being the great boss of the empire, importing the best drugs in the world. Southeast Asia to the streets of New York, becoming a respected but also feared gangster. Enough to be targeted by detectives like Richie Roberts, one of those classic cops with a disastrous personal life but devoted to the trade of fighting crime.
It doesn’t sound like anything particularly different from a classic crime drama, but precisely the way it embraces the classic makes it an epic work of great intensity. Stripping away lazy aspects, such as a romantic-family subplot that feels underwhelmed, Scott does a methodical job of following the parallel lives of these two characters, giving us a good idea of who they are and how they operate in their respective worlds. And how they try to survive.
The character of Lucas, played by Washington, is undoubtedly the one that seems to fascinate him the most. Not out of admiration, but because of how he comes to represent the most harmful aspects of a system obsessed with dominance, power and money. Throughout Ridley’s films we see numerous ideas about the corruption inherent in disgusting sums of money unattainable for the most ordinary of mortals. That he tells it here through a gangster is another of his ways of reflecting the unpleasant stench that often comes with the American dreamobsessed with winning at all costs.
‘American Gangster’: Classic Crime Epic
You don’t need to fall into cheap aspects to make the point clear, repeating the despicable aspects of the character. Instead, he explores it in all its complexity at the hands of a bustling Washington, which combines its natural magnetism with forceful moments that reinforce the respect and fear that it imposes on those below. With this they achieve the ambiguous but powerful feeling that the crime dramas of yesteryear convey.
Nor does it detract from Crowe’s work as the hunting policeman, who manages to prevent the character from being seen as a worn-out cliché and is the other side of the coin of that American dream. With that, he manages that his two and a half hours do not feel excessively heavy, since his intrigue is more dramatic and less explosive, and that when both characters meet they result in amazing moments even if they occur on a smaller scale. That is why ‘American Gangster’ occupies a place of honor in the careers of all involved and is an essential film.
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