.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Call me a fan. When I get word of a release date of a Ridley Scott directed film and I automatically adjust my personal schedule. Nieces and nephews birthdays go from a personal visit to a money stuffed well-wishing card mailed days before. Work days become sick days and even if Ed McMahon rang my doorbell with a large cardboard check, I would still hide behind the front door ensuring that my time was not impeded before my departure to the theatre.

Pathetic. I know. But when I go back over the filmography of Ridley Scott, I am reminded of just how much he brought to my life over his career. It started with Alien in 1979. It was the first Restricted movie that I snuck into thanks to an elderly couple in line that bought me a ticket. Blade Runner in 1982 was a film that I studied in my Film Studies class in University and I had to watch the film over 20 times in two weeks - each time with more admiration than the last. Thelma & Louise was the film I took my girlfriend to right after I asked for her hand in marriage (not the best choice in retrospect and we don't speak to this day). Black Rain, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men. The list goes on and on and the memories I have with theatres no longer in function, line-ups that I would hardly agree to now and friends that sat beside me and discussed the film afterwards who are no longer with us - the history of Sir Scott and myself go back. Way back.

Don't get me wrong. There have been missteps. I don't drool over the DVD boxes of Legend, A Good Year and Hannibal. And 1987's Someone To Watch Over Me is a film that I would pass on even if I was sick at home and the remote control to the television was within finger touch.

But with 20+ films behind the camera, Ridley has clicked more than he has clanked and his clicks sure do leave their mark. His three Academy Award nominations appear to indicate that I am not alone in my admiration.

So it came to none of my family's surprise when American Gangster was given a Fall 2007 release date and I was already pretending to be busy on a week-end so far in advance that people were giving me the "can't we get through Easter first?" look.

As if Ridley Scott's direction wasn't reason enough, the film also stars one Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe (reunited with Scott for the third time). Add one screenplay by Steven Zaillian and my fall schedule was set.

American Gangster is based on the true story of Frank Lucas (Washington) and Richie Roberts (Crowe), the black gangster/drug dealer and the cop assigned to a task force that will eventually take down the empire. It is a movie that starts at the beginning of the operation - where Lucas takes over from his mentor and seizes an opportunity to traffic heroin through the forces stationed in Vietnam and Cambodia during the late 1960's, early 1970's. Lucas is a business man and is soon selling higher grade product at low grade prices. His empire was growing at an alarming rate, but he remained unknown to the local and state authorities. He employed only people he trusted, namely family, and worked in the shadow of the stronger more prominent Italian mob.

Roberts was as honest a cop as the department could churn. A sub plot of him turning in nearly one million dollars of bookie money showed the audience how much he could be trusted, but sent a signal to his fellow police that he was too clean and could not be depended upon is a blind eye was required during a bust. Roberts is soon put in charge of America's war on drugs and leads a task force that gathers information on larger dealers in hopes of landing a big fish.

The two could not be opposite in both occupation and in their personal lives. Lucas is portrayed as a family man that shares his wealth with his kin. Roberts is a separated husband that admits to being a lousy father due to his job and his revolving door of women that share his bed. Their stories are as equally fascinating as they are completely contrary.

The movie follows both lives separately only having the two finally meet during the final few chapters of the films last two reels. We watch as Lucas grows in popularity with the Italian mafia and the various celebrities and entertainers of the time. He becomes richer than he could have ever imagined and more powerful than he could have realized. When Lucas walks into the middle of the street to gun down a competitor, he does so in broad daylight and returns to his Café meal seconds after sending the witnesses into a panic. His confidence as to his security within the Boroughs of New York would eventually lead to his downfall.

Roberts meanwhile is working feverishly to find out who is responsible for the high grade dope killing the users of the city. His months of efforts lead nowhere until he lucks out seeing Lucas at a Cassius Clay fight where his suspicions as to the power Lucas welds becomes apparent.

Parts Goodfellas, Scarface, Serpico and Heat, American Gangster is a gangster film at its finest. It's slick, intelligent and absorbing and you might not end up rooting for the Lucas character, but you sure as hell are interested in learning of his fate. Washington and Crowe become so involved in their roles that you forget the million dollar(s) personas of each Hollywood power player. These two Oscar winners have started the line for 2007 nominees with their respective roles.

With a running time of two hours and forty minutes, American Gangster plays like a two hour fast paced film. Each scene is incredibly important in the development of the characters and their situations and Ridley Scott does an outstanding job of getting the best out of his source material.

The ending is a fascinating look into a story that 9.9 out of 10 people would know nothing about. Equally captivating was how the two bonded and the eventual relationship that the two opposites would bond. (Even more fascinating was the fact that during filming, Denzel Washington was so appreciative of Lucas' assistance with his character that he bought him a Rolls Royce after wrapping).

In the end, American Gangster is this year's Departed. It is smart, important and a piece of New York and drug history that should not be missed.