American Gangster

Universal Pictures
RUBY DEE plays Denzel Washington's mother, telling him a thing or two, in "American Gangster."

Denzel gentleman gangster in film
Denzel Washington seems like such a nice guy.
He also plays the good guy in so many films.
That’s why it’s difficult to adjust to Washington playing the really bad guy in “American Gangster.”
Denzel is Frank Lucas, former aide to kingpin Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III.) Bumpy dies of a heart attack in the late 1960s, practically in Frank’s arms, so Frank decides to take his place.
The film is based on a true story.
Frank’s not happy to see all of the gangsters slurping up the booze at Bumpy’s funeral while still owing money.
Frank vows to see the debt is paid.
The movie is long and starts a little slow, but builds as we follow the Washington character and Russell Crowe as hardworking Detective Richie Roberts, who by day is going to law school.
Crowe’s character is so honest when he comes across $1 million in unmarked bills, he turns it in. He becomes a legend because he didn’t keep the money.
This film has a slew of dishonest cops.
But the characters in this story aren’t good or evil. Like real people, they have their flaws.
The Washington character plays the perfect gentleman. He loves his mother and buys her a house. He treats his future wife like a queen.
Unfortunately, he sees nothing wrong with sticking a gun to a rival’s head and pulling the trigger, even if in front of a whole bunch of witnesses.
His drugs also cause many deaths. We see a baby sitting on the bed beside the corpse of his mother.
Could Denzel be this bad?
Crowe is the honest cop who forms a special team to fight the drug team, sort of like a modern-day Untouchables.
But he regularly cheats on his wife and fails to pay sufficient attention to his son.
Put them together and you get a really bad, or really good guy.
Of course, Washington’s gentlemen-y facade starts to vanish when Crowe’s character starts pressuring him.
A good family man as well, Frank Lucas gets all of his brothers involved in his illegal trade.
Ruby Dee plays Mama Lucas, so excited when she sees the house son Frank buys for her with his drug money. She is thrilled to find he had recreated her beautiful bedroom set, the one she apparently lost when Frank was just a lad.
But make no mistake, Mama Lucas isn’t stupid. She keeps her mouth shut about where the money comes from, until she finds it necessary to give her son some advice.
There are no cliché characters in this film and you won’t find it easy to guess what happens next.
You just need to give the story a little time to get started.
It isn’t as good as “Good Fellas” or “The Godfather,” but what is?
In its own right, “American Gangster” works just fine.
Now Denzel, you straighten up.
AMERICAN GANGSTER
• Rated R for violence, pervasive drug content, language, nudity and sexuality
• Runtime: 157 minutes, 176 minutes in unrated version
• Released by Universal Pictures, directed by Ridley Scott
• 3 stars out of 4
This appeared in Weekender March 14, 2008 in the Ashtabula Star Beacon.