American Gangster leaked online one week before release

[LonesomeFugitive]

Scorsese needs to do another mob movie.

[KneeCo]

Agree totally that this plays like an overly simplistic, over stylized, Hollywood version of "The Wire".

The cast was great, but Frank Lucas as some kind of cultural, civil rights hero is beyond stupid.

I didn't dislike the movie, it was good in fact, but fell far short of what I hoped for.

[Your Mom]

[ QUOTE ]
Movie is over-rated afaikimo.

I felt like I was watching the short, uninteresting, unfunny version of Goodfellas.

Character development is absolute [censored].

[/ QUOTE ]

This is right on. Dialogue is very unimaginative. I don't think Crowe or Denzel did that great a job, especially Crowe. A couple of things in the movie make no sense whatsoever. One subplot is completely neglected at the end which is kind of strange. I didn't find either character likeable or interesting. Still a decent movie, but nowhere near Goodfellas, Casino, or Heat. I really think it's a Heat wannabee.

[Dan87]

From the early reviews I was hoping this would rival Goodfellas, but it just isn't that good. For Goodfellas you can say your favourite scenes are "the funny guy scene" or "billy batts or "the tracking shot" etc, but with this there are really no memorable scenes and very few memorable characters.

[Your Mom]

[ QUOTE ]
From the early reviews I was hoping this would rival Goodfellas, but it just isn't that good. For Goodfellas you can say your favourite scenes are "the funny guy scene" or "billy batts or "the tracking shot" etc, but with this there are really no memorable scenes and very few memorable characters.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct. I'm shocked that people think the cast did an awesome job. In what way? I don't think anyone stood out. The side characters were pretty much non existent, especially the wife.

[FlyWf]

You need to be able to divorce your evaluation of acting from your evaluation writing. The movie was terribly written with bland dialogue and no clear sense of purpose, but most of the actors tried their best.


Ejiofor's [censored] resentful brother is subtly played, also a really great accent. Of course, that whole subplot is built up and then completely ignored. Like half the subplots in the movie get built up and then completely ignored. My theory is that Ridley Scott has ADD and filmed the first half after watching Godfather, but then he watched The Wire and decided he liked drunk cops going after businesslike drug dealers, but then he remembered how Serpico was a good movie so, oh, what the hell, the real bad guys were the corrupt cops after all. That particular subplot has an ending but no beginning or middle.

Also, short version of Goodfellas? It's actually 12 minutes longer! One of the hallmarks of good movies is that they seem shorter than they are. This movie drags on incredibly long. It's over two and a half hours long but feels like 9 or 10. There should be an intermission. Where you can get your money back.

[PleasureGuy69]

huge dissapointment. I enjoyed "Mr. Brooks" more so than i did this, a shame as i was really looking forward to it.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

I actually called that it was going to suck based on the preview. Besides Heat, how many Cop vs Bad Guy movies aren't A-B-C? He is the out of shape, drinks too much, lost custody of his kids but still beats the crap out of people and pulls hot chicks police officer. Overall, it was soulless. If they were serious, it should have been just Denzel.

[Wires]

[ QUOTE ]
Overall, it was soulless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. I thought the movie was great entertainment and I would recommend it but I wanted The Godfather or Goodfellas. I don't think this is unrealistic as the potential was there but "that moment" never surfaced. The closest we saw was when Denzel stated "they tried to kill MY WIFE!!!". One brief line of intensity and passion that was never matched anywhere else in the film.

The writing is strictly straight to DVD but the actors, director and budget make it a theatrical release. Actually I'm surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did since my expectations based on the trailers were through through roof. I guess the fact that some posters in this forum viewed the leaked release and gave moderate reviews helped.

Too bad. This could have been epic.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

I think everyone was waiting for Alonzo Harris to show up and it never happened. And if you haven't seen it, check out HBO's The Wire which is epic imho.