American Gangster
February 22, 2008Yet another movie that is far too long.
Let me be clear – I like long movies. Finding movies that are too long is, for me, a recent phenomenon. Usually my complaint is that movies are far too short. For example, Harry Potter movies that get continually shorter despite the books getting longer, leaving out entire characters and storylines.
Another example is George Lucas cutting out entire scenes because he feels character development slows a movie down and no one cares about that stuff anyway.
American Gangster, however, is one scene after another of the same thing. If couldn’t even finish watching it because it was so boring. Good cop keeps showing what a good cop he is, gangster keeps showing what a good businessman he is. New Jack City was better. It was neat seeing Clarence Williams III, though – I haven’t seen him in anything since Tales from the Hood. Denzel Washington was boring as always. Yesterday, I read Don Cheadle was the first choice for that role – I would have seen it already if Cheadle had been in it. He is one of the most underrated actors ever.
Best thing about American Gangster was this. Out of NOWHERE Josh Brolin, this crazy guy from Grindhouse: Planet Terror, is all of a sudden in No Country for Old Men and American Gangster.
Ruby Dee should give Cate Blanchett no competition. Speaking of, you know what my favorite Cate Blanchett piece is? Coffee and Cigarettes. Some of that movie was unwatchable, but some of it was simply the bestest.
