American Gangster

"American Gangster" is the first Oscar-worthy movie I have seen all season. Powerful performances paired with a solid script combine to make for a great, though very long, movie experience.

Denzel Washington stars as Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin who controls the flow of heroin into 1970s New York. We watch as Frank rises from being the driver to the previous neighborhood boss to becoming an international crime boss worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It's hard to root against Frank, though, as his efforts are always geared toward making a better life for his entire family as well as prove that a black man can do just as well as the white mafia bosses.

At the same time, Russell Crowe co-stars as Richie Roberts, an honest cop in a corrupt department trying to combat the growing drug problem overtaking the New York/New Jersey area. Not only does he struggle to determine who the truly bad guys are, he's struggling to maintain visitation rights to his son as he goes through a divorce. Richie and his team, now in charge of tracking down the big name suppliers, begin the work to determine who is supplying the city with drugs and how it's getting into the country.

The two stories bounce back and forth as we watch Lucas' continued rise, including his trips to Bangkok to make deals with Asian drug lords and see how he puts together a transportation line involving the military fighting in Vietnam, all while Roberts gets closer to the truth. It's not until we get past the second hour of the movie that Crowe and Washington finally come together on screen. The end result not only brings down Frank Lucas, but also leads to the arrests of three quarters of the NYPD drug enforcement group because of his cooperation.

As usual, Washington and Crowe are outstanding in their roles, with Denzel perhaps having the stronger performance. The rest of the cast is equal to the task, and the sets, combined with actual newscasts following the fall of Saigon provide the appropriate flavor. The only downside to the movie is its length. Clocking in at almost three hours, even with occasional action, the story feels extremely long. It's solid, but slow and talky at times. Still, "American Gangster" is powerful and never dull. I give it an A-.

"American Gangster" is rated R with a running time of 160 minutes.