well, one of the big Oscar contenders finally arrived....and now it's not looking like such an Oscar contender anymore. It's an excellent film, but unlike The Departed it lacks anything....surprising. It doesn't try and break any new ground in the "gangster" movie genre, it just tries to do a really good job with the old formula, and it succeeds for the most part. However, because the marketing suggested otherwise, this is really more of a well made semi failure. Ridley Scott is one of many directors whom the Academy would love to finally give an Oscar, but hopefully it's not this. Just like in Gladiator, he does a very good job of handling his characters....just never a great one. They certainly aren't shallow, but they aren't nearly as deep as they easily could have been. Where the film does soar though, is in its acting (mainly Washington) and its editing. 2 hrs and 40 minutes rarely feels this well paced. The fact that the story is true is also interesting, but the structure remains all to familiar. However, unlike this year's other semi failure gangster/mob movie, Eastern Promises, this one doesn't forget to tell a big story. One problem with American Gangster though, is that its end doesn't really live up to the rest. It finishes up what's left of the story so quickly and easily, that it shoots itself in the foot and removes any sort of "wow" factor from its closing scenes. What action/shootings there are are well executed and intense, which helps, but in the end the problem is this: even someone like me, who hasn't seen many gangster movies at all, thought that a lot of this very well made film was all too familiar. Grade: B+
Current Nominations: Best Leading Actor - Denzel Washington (#4), Best Editing (#2)
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