American Gangster

Scott and I went to see American Gangster over the weekend. I wanted to see this movie for two reasons, and they are as follows: #1.) Denzel, and #2.) The Jay-Z song in the preview. These are not stellar reasons to see a movie, but bring it on...

Actually, the movie was great. If you have an extra 3 hours of your life, I'd highly recommend it. Scott and I have had a rousing debate about whether or not the director could have used his 3 hours better (Scott voted yes, I voted no, see the review on his blog coming soon). I thought it was good, well-paced, and entertaining. Plus, it's based on a real story. I love that. Real life is so much more interesting than, let's just say, sci-fi. And Denzel was fabulous. I don't even like Russell Crowe, and I thought he was good, too.

The movie is pretty violent, so if that offends you, take a pass on this one. There's a police arrest/action scene that literally made me push back into my seat and close my eyes, because the staccato snippets of film were making me slightly ill. I can't handle both ridiculous amounts of violence and quick camera takes. One or the other, I'm usually fine. Together--Ridley Scott, you should be ashamed of yourself. You lost me in a very important scene!

Keep an eye out for this one in Oscar season. My bet is that it will get nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Denzel.
I highly recommend this film for those of you interested in action, police work and the inner workings of an African-American gangster family. I don't recommend it for those of you looking for a theater-quality rendition of Jay-Z's newest song, "Blue Magic." They play a clip for like 10 seconds at the end. Harumph. Gotta go get my hip-hop on somewhere else...