Director Report Card: Ridley Scott (2007)

17. American Gangster

At the start of the new millennium, Universal purchased the film rights to a New York Magazine article called "The Return of Superfly," which tracked the life and times of seventies drug lord Frank Lucas. Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian wrote a script called "American Gangster" based on the story. He approached Ridley Scott about directing but he was too busy making "Kingdom of Heaven" at the time. The project then entered a seven year period of development hell. Brian DePalma was courted to direct and the title was changed to "Tru Blu." And then DePalma was out and Antoine Fuqua was in, bringing Denzel Washington and Benicio del Toro with him. The title was changed back to "American Gangster" and a lengthy period of rewrites and budget squabbles ensued. Fuqua was replaced by Peter Berg, del Toro dropped out, Universal canceled and un-canceled the project, and considered replacing Washington with Will Smith. Finally, a chance meeting between Scott and Zaillian -- whose script had been completely rewritten by this point -- led to the project actually moving forward with the original choice for director and original screenplay intact. Funny how that worked out, isn't it? 

Frank Lucas began his criminal career as the driver and assistant to Harlem crime boss Bumpy Johnson. After Bumpy's death, Lucas seeks to take control of his criminal empire. He heads to war-torn Vietnam, buying opium directly from the source. Soon, New York City is flooded with cheap and extremely powerful heroin. This baffles the (white) police establishment, who don't even know who Lucas is. Detective Richie Roberts, one of the few clean cops in NYC, is recruited to track down the mysterious Lucas and stop the influx of drugs. Yet pinning a case on Lucas, who tries to maintain a low-profile despite his rising fame, is easier said than done.

“American Gangster” is a parallel story about two men with different opinions about money. Early in the film, Roberts and his partner (eventually revealed to be a junkie himself) come across a million dollars in dirty money. Rather than keep it, Roberts does the ethical thing and turns the cash into the authorities. This ostracizes him among the corrupt police force, the incident haunting him for the rest of the movie. But it was the right thing to do. Frank Lucas, meanwhile, makes himself and his family very rich selling drugs to his own community, poisoning and killing his own people. Lucas and Roberts are similar and different in a lot of ways but their opposing opinions on whether making a buck is worth selling out is their greatest contrast. 

One of "American Gangster's" earliest scenes has Bumpy taking a young Lucas into a department store. With his dying breath, he criticizes how corporations have screwed over the American businessman by buying directly from the manufacturers. Lucas takes these words to heart and they guide him as he builds his own drug empire. This begins the film's ironic contrast between Lucas' criminal actions and his capitalistic goals. In many ways, the drug lord achieved the American dream. He rises out of obscurity, growing up among a poor family in North Carolina. By smartly observing the mechanics of the system and the demands of the market, he became a truly self-made millionaire. He rubbed shoulders with celebrities and bought a mansion for himself and his mama. That the only way a black man in the seventies was able to do this was by selling heroin is a blunt assessment of the failings of the American Dream.

The film, smartly, tracks Lucas' capitalistic achievements alongside the chaos of the Vietnam War. News footage and updates on the war play in the background constantly. The atrocities overseas are often compared with the death and destruction Lucas and his men reap at home. Truthfully, the onky way Lucas was able to build his empire was because of the war. It gave him a direct line to the opium farms and an easy way to get it into the states. That would be within the caskets of American servicemen, a pretty direct summation of the two biggest ways the Vietnam War took the lives of regular American boys. When the war ends, Lucas' operation starts to fall apart. That the film shows the rise and fall of Lucas' perverted (but not really) take on American business alongside the failure of a horrible war waged strictly because of the whims of the free market is among its subtlest, and most potent, moves. 

Ultimately, what motivates Lucas the most -- and what most connects "American Gangster" to Ridley Scott's other films -- is his love of family. He directly involves his vast army of brothers and cousins in his drug operation. He sets them up with legitimate businesses to act as fronts, ensuring they are taken care of in a way. And, yeah, he takes his hard-working elderly mother out of poverty and puts her into a massive, glamourous mansion. He perfectly rebuilds, from memory, a beloved piece of furniture she had to sell when he was a child. And he personally takes her to church every Sunday. When he meets a woman and falls in love with her, Lucas is as fiercely loyal and protective of her as he is of his mother. "American Gangster" never has Frank Lucas say that he poisoned and killed hundreds of Americans with drugs for the sake of his family but it's more than implied. 

This theme, of loyalty to family, is also reflected in Richie Roberts' storyline. Roberts' devotion to his job, to his principals, is causing his own marriage to dissolve. (Well, that and his inability to keep his dick in his pants.) His wife resents how he values his determination to always do the right thing at his job over his commitment to her and their child. Eventually, Roberts willingly gives up custody of his own kid, seemingly accepting that he is a cop first and a parent second. Frank Lucas breaks the law but loves his family and takes care of them. Roberts realizes he can never be a good dad but does the right thing. This almost feels like Scott justifying what I can only speculate are his own father issues but it works for the movie. 

Of course, like every gangster movie ever made, "American Gangster" is also about how Lucas inevitably compromises his principals in order to keep his financial institution rolling along. When a cousin of his, working as a driver, almost gets them caught by the police, he violently beats the boy against a car window. Lucas' beloved wife buys him a fancy fur coat, which he accepts despite his differences it is from his usual style. After a confrontation with the cops shortly afterwards, Lucas burns the coat in disgust. When his business starts to crumble, Lucas grows more unhinged and his family – the people he swore to protect – begin to abandon him. It's a story we've seen many times before, in all the great classics of the crime story genre, but "American Gangster" does a good job of reprising these ideas. 

If "American Gangster" has a major flaw, it's that the film never really grapples with the horrors of the heroin epidemic. Oh, it gives it plenty of passing glances. We see friends and family of Roberts and Lucas shoot up or act irresponsible because of drugs. There's the unavoidable montage of dead bodies, of junkies O.D.ed from Lucas' super-strong smack. This includes the image of a baby clinging to its dead mother, a needle still stuck in her arm. Which feels like the most stereotypical of stereotypical drug movie imagery. Yet these are only a few scenes in a 157-minute movie. (Extended to almost three hours for the DVD release.) "American Gangster" is far more focused on the business side of the heroin game, not so much on the lives the drug destroyed and continues to destroy,

In fact, something about this otherwise excellent movie does stick in my teeth a little bit. "American Gangster" has a lot of respect for Frank Lucas. Not just for his arguably good qualities, like his loyalty to his family or his keen understanding of how the system works. It acknowledges his brutality, like how he shoots a rival in the head in the middle of a busy street. But even after his downfall, you can't shake the feeling that the movie thinks Lucas wasn't that bad of a guy. Upon arrest, he gives up his own men to Roberts as well as every dirty cop he ever knew in exchange for a shortened sentence. Lucas and Roberts form an odd friendship during this time – the first time the movie actually has them meet – and an extended epilogue has Richie greeting him when he gets out of jail. Instead of commenting on the bitter irony here, that a drug kingpin found a way to lessen his punishment like every other evil capitalist in America, it suggests that cop and crook have more in common than they realize. Kind of fucked-up to suggest that a man who ruined countless lives wasn't that bad, ya know? (This was a big problem for the real Richie Roberts, who happily pointed out that the movie is 99% fiction.)

But at this point in his career, inconsistent messaging is as much a trademark of Scott's movies as fancy lighting or white smoke. “American Gangster” is really a good example of Scott proving, once again, that he can direct the hell out of an action sequence. It's not an especially action-packed movie, being more of a character drama for most of its run time. But when the adrenaline ramps up, it's very well assembled. As Roberts and his team close-in on Lucas' operation, we are greeted to a beautifully shot and edited sequence where the authorities infiltrate his drug factory. The agents weave in-and-out of the hallway, narrowly avoiding being spotted by the guards. The camera moves smoothly with them, making for an exciting and fantastically orchestrated sequence.

People who knew the real Frank Lucas say they don't recognize much of him in Denzel Washington's performance. This is understandable, as Washington turns Lucas – who he talked with before starring in the movie – into a typical Denzel Washington character. That means he's incredibly charismatic at times, often ending conversations with a wry smile, a small chuckle, and a declaration of “my man!” At the same time, Washington brings an incredible intensity to the part. When Lucas is determined to make a point, he does so as brutally and efficiently as possible.  This is what you hire Denzel for, to play someone earthy and charming but also incredibly intimidating. 

As Denzel's Lucas projects absolute control at all times, Russell Crowe's Richie Roberts deliberately seems like kind of a mess. He has rowdy sex with his lawyer on the kitchen counter. He sports a perpetual five-o'clock shadow. While Lucas has a traditional feast for Thanksgiving, Richie gobbles fast food. This, of course, totally suits Crowe. Playing a sloppy, gruff guy who is unmovable in his ethics could not be more in his wheelhouse. Luckily, Crowe tempers these qualities with some likable attitude. You like Roberts, no matter how often he pushes the people he cares about away, because he does the right thing. Also, Crowe's New York accent here is a lot better than the English accent he used in “A Good Year.”

Probably because it was a high-profile release from a big director with even bigger stars, “American Gangster” also has a ridiculously stacked supporting cast. Josh Brolin is fantastically sleazy as the almost comically corrupt cop who constantly badgers both Roberts and Lucas. Idris Elba brings a lot of energetic vigor to a small role as a loud-mouthed rival of Lucas'. Ruby Dee, otherwise motherly and sweet as Lucas' mom, gets a showstopper of a scene when she confronts her son over his business. Chiwetel Ejiofor is also well utilized as one of Lucas' more timid relatives, who unsurprisingly is not cut out for the criminal life. You know this because he wears a turtleneck in his introductory scene. 

The film peppers even the smaller roles with recognizable character actors. That's Ted Levine as the police chief that recruits Roberts. There's Jon Politio as a random mafioso Lucas meets early in his career. Armand Assante is, similarly, right-on-the-nose casting as the head of the Sicilian mob. Joe Morton, immediately warm and welcoming, appears as a minor associate of Frank's. And a strangely uncredited Clarence Williams III makes an impression as Bumpy Johnson, in his single scene near the film's beginning. If everyone in the movie is playing to type, Cuba Gooding Jr. certainly is not as an posturing and blustery peon of Frank's.

In hopes of recouping its massive budget, Universal did everything they could to make the movie appeal to a wider, younger audience. Which included a corresponding concept album from Jay-Z of the same name. I guess this worked, as the movie gave Denzel and Crowe the biggest opening weekends of their careers at this point and made 266 million dollars world-wide. Yet the movie was clearly designed as an awards contender from the get-go. It received lots of rave reviews and earned plenty of nominations, though Best Supporting Actress for Ruby Dee and Art Direction was the only Oscar categories it breached. Over all, it's an ambitious and handsome movie that largely succeeds at the complex themes and ideas it approaches. I like it a lot, flaws and all. [Grade: B+]