American Gangster (2009)

From Ridley Scott this film explores the life of Frank Lucas a drug kingpin from New York played by Denzel Washington and the cop that tried to bring him down played by Russell Crowe. You follow both stories separately with you seeing how Frank Lucas began in his career as a driver then taking over the empire and using his family to run everything he was involved in. Russell Crowe starts out by finding money in a trunk and you find out what sort of person he is and the sort of cop that he wants to be. You follow both stories as they come closer together and in the end how they meet up and what happens.

This is a biopic based on a true story and shows the two sides of achieving what you want, with the Frank Lucas character getting what he wants be it wealth and success however he can and Richie Roberts as the whiter than white cop whose home life is falling down around him and he is despised in his work as so many officers at that time were on the take and did not like the fact that Richie would not take the money. This shows a grimy world in the back drop of the Vietnam war raging overseas and the drug culture being flooded by good quality cheap drugs that meant more and more people could access the Heroin.

This film is another of these films that when it came out I was not interested in, Denzel Washington is never a bad performance but is not somebody I hear about and think I really have to see that film. Russell Crowe on the other hand is somebody that I actually try and avoid as I really do not like the man. However in this film both actors make you like and appreciate both the characters they play. There are also some good supporting roles played by Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lymari Nadal. This is a really good film and if you enjoy gangsters or crime films then this film is for you and I give it a strong 3 star recommend.

The Next Three Days (2010)

Film of 2012 #24
Some Spoilers

This Russell Crowe film is a remake of a French film (Anything for her) that I have not seen and centres around the idea that a Woman is jailed for murder and her husband has 3 days to break her out. It explores the concept of a normal man doing extraordinary things in the face of love. I actually really enjoyed this film, while I do not know if a normal and could do what is required of Russell Crowe it is an interesting exploration of the idea, you see him watching YouTube videos on how to make Bump Keys and open car doors and I have no idea if these things would work but it is an interesting angle and also the fact that what he tries back fires and does not work actually, it works really well for the film with the idea that he is not perfect and things do not always work out the way you expect, 

My biggest issue with the film is the title it implies that three days are ultimately important to the film and overall you do not really get an understanding of how much time is passing or passed and it is not really clear how long anything takes for him to do or feel the time pressure. Other than near the end but then it is being measured in minutes not days. I like some of the intelligent touches that the Russel Crowe character throws in there with the bag of rubbish and going to the train station which is very clever.

I do not normally like Russell Crowe as I do not like him in real life but he was actually very good in this and I actually think he is an excellent actor. When someone that you do not like can convince you they are likeable and intelligent and nervous and scared they must have some good acting skills. I recommend this film it is a strong 3 stars, there are flaws and some of his knowledge seems to come from nowhere but overall a very enjoyable film that I would probably watch again.