Friday, November 23, 2007

Sidenote: American Gangster




On a sidenote, I just watched one very thrilling retelliing of history: American Gangster. No doubt it was embellished like every other good story, American Gangster
wasn't noticeably so. Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas, big time drug trafficker from the 1970's, and Russel Crowe plays the cop that busts him. The stories of these two individuals intertwine with eachother and are remarkably similar to yin and yang. Neither good, neither bad, and yet they are so opposite. Both struggle in their own right, only to come together at the end in a most unlikely way. The fact that the ending is 100% true skyrockets the marverlousness of it.

American Gangster is not, despite the way its ad's portray it, a shoot em up action movie. Don't get me wrong, there's tons of action, ton's of good action, and it's directed by the same fellow who did Gladiator. But American Gangster is so much more than that. It sucks you in. At the end of the movie you don't know who you're rooting for, the gangster or the cop. It's moving, but not tear jerking. It's far beyond surface level. It's a good movie.

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