American Gangster

[WMR]

I had the opportunity to see an advance screening copy of this movie... All I can say is: WOW. This is my pick for the movie that will win the Academy Award for Best Picture (based on what has been released so far). I really believe this movie will end up winning a BUNCH of awards... Best Actor for Denzel... Best Supporting for Russell Crowe... Best Director for Ridley Scott... "American Gangster" really is that good.

I would describe it sort of like the "black Scarface" only MUCH MUCH MUCH better (And I LOVE Scarface).

This movie is amazing. Everyone should go and see it.

[SeeinRed]

Definately going to see this one. I love Denzel Washington movies. Man on Fire being my favorite and Deja Vu my second or third. I don't know if it is him, or the type of films he usually stars in, but I haven't really seen one I didn't like. Training Day was one i wasn't thrilled about though.

[mole44]

Definately going to see this one. I love Denzel Washington movies. Man on Fire being my favorite and Deja Vu my second or third. I don't know if it is him, or the type of films he usually stars in, but I haven't really seen one I didn't like. Training Day was one i was thrilled about though.

Yeah, Washington is a great actor. I just saw Deja Vu yesterday day and wow, what a GREAT movie.

[redsmetz]

I've been intrigued by the commercials and I love Denzel Washington, but I'm always put off by violent movies (no matter how much folks tell me Pulp Fiction is an incredible film - and they're probably right - I've only seen the first few minutes before I had to turn it off). I felt the same way about The Departed, which also looked like a magnificent film too.

Interestingly, my wife and I went to see Michael Clayton some weeks ago and we both thought Tom Wilkinson could win an Oscar for his performance (Supporting Role) and that the movie itself would garner some nominations.

[WMR]

I've been intrigued by the commercials and I love Denzel Washington, but I'm always put off by violent movies (no matter how much folks tell me Pulp Fiction is an incredible film - and they're probably right - I've only seen the first few minutes before I had to turn it off). I felt the same way about The Departed, which also looked like a magnificent film too.

Interestingly, my wife and I went to see Michael Clayton some weeks ago and we both thought Tom Wilkinson could win an Oscar for his performance (Supporting Role) and that the movie itself would garner some nominations.

If you are "violence averse," then I'd have to say that American Gangster is probably not for you, although the violence does not detract from this movie's greatness one iota, IMO.

[Redsfaithful]

Can't wait to see this, glad to hear it's as good as it looks.

[Reds4Life]

Can't wait to see this, glad to hear it's as good as it looks.

Me too. I haven't gone to see a movie in several years because I really wasn't interested, I'll be in line to see this one when it comes out.

[Razor Shines]

I saw this last night. I loved it. Obviously Denzel was great, but I thought that the other roles were very well cast also. It's still kind of funny to see Ted Levine in other movies with that very distinct voice he has, I kept expecting him to say "It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again." I've seen two movies very recently with him in them, this one and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which is also one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Casey Affleck definitely got the acting talent in that family.

[Redsfaithful]

I could have done with a little more Frank Lucas and a little less Russell Crowe, but that's a very minor quibble. Really awesome movie.

[Cyclone792]

Saw it over the weekend. Absolutely phenomenal movie.

[Sean_CaseyRules]

Its a really awesome movie, I just saw this movie yesterday and I have to say its one of my favorites of the year so far.

[stevekun]

Its a great movie....Denzel is the best.

I love the part where the guy says to frank "what, are you going to kill me right here in front of everyone?"....AWESOME sceen. I don't want to give it away so thats why I said it like this

[BuckeyeRed27]

I really liked it as well.
*SPOILER*
I think the movie would have been a little bit better if you had really wanted Russell Crowe's character to catch Lucas. They didn't do a good enough job building up Crowe's character as the "cop with something to prove". I think they needed to explain further why he was the cop he was or they could have made Lucas more of a bad guy. There was a very short scene where the mom was high and the baby was crying next to her that I thought was very powerful. If they would have extended that scene or added a couple others like it, it would have made Lucas less likeable and showed what his business was really doing to people.
But overall I thought it was a great movie and Denzel will be right in the race for best actor this year.

[Matt700wlw]

This movie is high on my list...

[Larry Schuler]

I really liked it as well.
*SPOILER*
I think the movie would have been a little bit better if you had really wanted Russell Crowe's character to catch Lucas. They didn't do a good enough job building up Crowe's character as the "cop with something to prove". I think they needed to explain further why he was the cop he was or they could have made Lucas more of a bad guy. There was a very short scene where the mom was high and the baby was crying next to her that I thought was very powerful. If they would have extended that scene or added a couple others like it, it would have made Lucas less likeable and showed what his business was really doing to people.
But overall I thought it was a great movie and Denzel will be right in the race for best actor this year.

I'm actually glad and surprised that the film avoided the "cat and mouse" cliche between Crowe and Washington. You had two very well developed storylines (Washingtons' rise and fall, Crowe's hypocrisy between his work and private life & his eventual redemption) that were closely related but never intersected until the end of the film. It took some discipline to keep this movie from being an action flick disguised as a crime drama.