Dan's Papers - November 16, 2007 - Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywood 1n The Hamptons

For those who can't get their minds off the coming elections, the first thing to pop into their minds at the mention of American Gangster is the torturing, riddling and torching of our Constitutional Law in Washington, DC. Not surprisingly, Ridley Scott's current epic film of that title pictures the rise and fall of Harlem's 70s drug kingpin Frank Lucas, who took over by torturing, riddling and torching, too. American Gangster, the ambitious, sweeping movie, clearly echoes The Godfather but there's a big difference. The Godfather's victims were all "family member" criminals, a civilian wasn't seen hurt on screen. American Gangster, on the other hand, gives a clear and graphic view of those affected by Lucas' power greed.

Denzel Washington churns down 116th Street like a Sherman tank as the mob boss Frank Lucas who impressed even the Goombahs that respected him for his organizational and business smarts. Like DC's corporate pets, Lucas was able to blur the divide between crime and commerce. The New York drug lord had an excellent product but it helped tremendously that he had an enslaved-market. The victims were his own people. Like our own despoilers inside the Beltway, Lucas shows that criminality can go hand-in-hand with family values.

Washington's performance is powerful but his feral, brutal Lucas is sorta contained, unlike his full-force bad guy in Training Day. Regardless of the frequent explosions of brutality, he can be seen as satiny smooth. And too, let's not forget he's sharing the screen with another dynamic actor, Russell Crowe, as an exceptionally clean and dedicated cop who's given almost equal time in a highly detailed 2-hour film, and Crowe's bailiwick is New Jersey, a far distance from Frank's hustlers underworld. They are light years apart. Crowe's Richie Roberts is so good a policeman he actually turns in nearly a million dollars in cash of drug money. This makes him a pariah to all the other not so squeaky clean crew. It could seem the two were destined to come down to the final, confrontation for though morally worlds apart, they are equally meticulous and demanding in work ethics - Lucas is proud of the quality of his "Blue Magic" and his gang. He will not allow his "products" or the men pushing it to be inferior in any way. And also, he wants the job done completely, which is why he will torch a guy and then fill him full of lead.

Rumpled and scruffy Richie Roberts looks just like his personal life, like an unmade bed. His marriage is total wreckage. Among the flotsam is a court fight for custody of his child. When he gets onto someone's case though, he will pick-pick every lead to a fine needle point to snare the bums. His needle goes boing-g-g when Frank makes his first ostentatious blunder. Sure, he's bought a "Graceland" manor house for his good mother, the marvelous Ruby Dee, but he's kept himself and operations in buttoned-down propriety. But his wife, the spectacular Miss Puerto Rico, the gorgeous Lymari Nadal, wants to flaunt their millions of dollars. She buys him an extravagant pimp outfit of dazzling chinchilla. He in turn brazenly wears it to the big Ali-Frazier fight and he is outted. Too bad, because lots of folks want a piece of him. Mob boss Armand Assante wants to make the point that blacks can't be paisano Mafiosi. Cuba Gooding, Jr. (back in stride) is a rival who'd like him dead. One of the baddest of the bad cops is Josh Brolin as a New York detective who shakes down the best of 'em. Brolin's performance is another knockout in a movie bearing down heavily on Oscar voters. Besides the stars, Ruby Dee is also up there. American Gangster is the first really big Oscar contender, especially since it's done so well at the box office.

Ridley Scott, the truly venerable director, has been due for awards that have eluded him, perhaps because his incredible craftsmanship makes his work look easy. The long, saga-like script is another matter. The only writer credit is for Steve Zaillan, who's done big time hits like Schindler's List. However, its sprawling detail and unrelenting add-ons suggest many cooks. Interestingly, Roberts is barely mentioned in the source of the film biography, a 2,000 New York Magazine article from an interview with Lucas by Mark Jacobson. Director Scott's gravitas is tempered by his innate good taste, which dampens some of the Gangsta ugliness made mandatory by the new audience's lust. For instance, when the final showdown comes about and Washington and Crowe ultimately connect, it's almost a happy one. It's difficult to fault the film's makers for making Lucas a somewhat sympathetic symbol of black resistance to second class citizenship. We have seen in the film the toll of Lucas' ambition and we're also reminded that in U.S. ethics there are no holds barred.

Guy-Jean de Fraumeni is the producer, writer, and director of award-winning European Feature films. He has judged the major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, The Emmy's and various film festivals.