American Gangster Movie Review

A solid and pretty great film that Ridley Scott maneuvers deftly. In the hands of someone else this could have gone quite poorly. But with Scott you have finesse, especially in the more elaborate scenes and then those super interesting scenes of just people talking, but with so much skill and high narrative stakes that although the film is long it does not drag. Who is the American Gangster? It seems that there are many responses throughout the film to this question. Scott portrays murky morality and allows the audience to decide. Well acted, well scripted and very well directed. And Ruby Dee’s performance! She makes a lot out of a little!