American Gangster vs Heat

Epic movies get a lot of attention, but it’s rarely for the contribution from the actors. I guess epics are more a director’s medium (as is film in general, of course). Everyone I know loves Braveheart, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone mention a second of its acting. Likewise for Saving Private Ryan and Dances with Wolves. The exceptions, I find, are performances in those crazy long gangster epics. Three hours with the mob, and you’re going to see some acting. Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York, Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro in Goodfellas, and in American Gangster—which is an epic film if I ever saw one—Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and Ruby Dee.

I’m mentioning Ruby Dee as early as possible in this review, because it’s one of those performances that makes you look a movie differently. Dee plays the mother of Frank Casey (Denzel Washington), and only has a couple scenes. But she’s demonstrating what I think are the very definitions of character acting and supporting performances. Ruby Dee plays every human emotion in about fifteen minutes screen time, and instantly changes the tone of American Gangster from slick crime movie to a story of humans, period. She delivers a slap in the film that is every bit as powerful and shocking as the many gunshots we witness in its nearly three hours.

Frank Casey started out as a driver for Bumpy Johnson, a Harlem gangster as famous for handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving as he was for pushing drugs. When Bumpy dies, Frank steps into his place. It’s not a smooth transition, but one of the first images of the film is Frank shooting a man he’s just set on fire, so it’s no shocker that Frank takes the lead position in Harlem crime and keeps it.

Frank’s good at what he does, and stays in power, because of his intelligence, charm and family loyalty. What’s more interesting to me, is how he stayed both in power, but under the radar of the law. He’s running a major part of New York, bringing in millions of dollars and shooting his opponents in the street, and virtually no one knows who he is. The answer comes in the form of none other than Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays Nicky Barnes, a rival gangster who lives like a movie version of himself, all flashy clothes, expensive cars and photo-ops with celebrities. It’s been over a decade since Cuba Gooding Jr. was in a movie of this caliber. I wonder how many times he read the script, looking for the wacky toilet mishap? Frank knows that in a crowd, the cops would profile Nicky instantly. Frank lives opulently, but dresses like a businessman. He minds his business, keeps his dignity and stays free. Not that there aren’t cops after him.

Russell Crowe plays Richie Roberts, a New Jersey cop trying to bring down the mafia. Good luck there, Richie. Most films present a cop with one obvious obstacle in his case. Richie’s got more than his share: he’s in court with his soon-to-be ex-wife, he’s trying to pass the Bar, he’s surrounded by crooked cops in Jersey and New York (Richie’s become somewhat of a folk hero/joke because he found a million dollars and turned it in), and the biggest case of his life is before him and he can’t solve it because a. he’s without a team, because everyone in his line of work is on the take, and b. he has no idea who he’s supposed to be going after. Shouldn’t the most powerful and profitable gangster in New York be Italian?

Nope. Frank Casey raked in the money and kept his power by lowering the price of heroin and improving the quality. He did this by going directly to the source: Thailand , during the Vietnam War. How he gets the drugs back to New York is a fact I won’t reveal here, but it is simultaneously ingenious and disgusting, practical and horrific.

Ridley Scott directed American Gangster, with his usual easy touch. Scott’s got an eye for violence and action (a chase and shootout in Frank’s factory is exciting, but damn near terrifying too), but keeps the focus on his actors at all times. By the way, I don’t have to tell you that Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are both awesome, do I? Good. We should be on the same page with that by now, don’t you think?

Once you understand the nature of the plot of American Gangster, a thought is likely to occur to you: Oh, until Richie catches Frank, Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington aren’t likely to have any scenes together. And if Richie catches Frank, then the movie’s over, right? Well, yeah. But if you had to have basically two ninety minute movies mashed together, alternating scenes, who better to give the lead roles to? And they do get a scene—a great one—so be patient.

In that way, American Gangster reminded me of Heat. It’s also a crime drama with two powerful actors dodging each other until one pivotal scene (the scenes in question in each movie are both over coffee, by the way). And while Heat is maybe even more exhilarating than American Gangster, it suffers a little otherwise. Heat overdoes it a bit, with…well, with everything. But that’s what we want sometimes, right?

Heat was directed by Michael Mann, who, like Ridley Scott, has a jaw-dropping resume (look these guys up when you get a chance. Even if you’re a fan of their work, you’ll see a couple movies that you’d forgotten about). Heat is lit and shot within an inch of its life. This movie looks good. And it’s stacked top to bottom with great names: Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, and at its center, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.

Pacino is the cop, DeNiro is the robber. I wish both of these guys would hold out for movies like Heat more often. Their scene in the coffee shop is just about perfect; Heat is already crazy long, but you’d be justified in rewinding and watching that scene again.

In Heat, I suppose, the casting of DeNiro and Pacino might come off as a bit of a stunt. It is just cops and robbers, after all. And when they’re together, you’ll never stop thinking—as impressed as you might get—hey, look, it’s Pacino and DeNiro, acting. That kind of thing never crossed my mind during American Gangster. Maybe all Heat’s missing is a slap in the face from Ruby Dee.

American Gangster: A

Heat: B+