At the Movies With Mr. Showtime
“Virtuosity” fans rejoice: Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington have reunited. This time, however, the roles of face and heel have been reversed in Ridley Scott’s upcoming crime drama, “American Gangster,” set to come out Nov. 2. Washington plays Frank Lucas, a small time player in a big city crime outfit who quickly ascends to drug lord status and becomes the biggest heroin dealer in town. Crowe is his foil as Richie Roberts, a street cop that mounts a campaign of his own to bring Lucas down.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Carla Gugino, Armand Assante and Cuba Gooding Jr. (hot off his success with “Daddy Day Camp”) round out a solid supporting cast that should provide enough depth to keep things interesting. Early buzz is pretty strong for director Scott who is in desperate need of a hit after lackluster results with 2006’s “A Good Year” (which was a victim of complete mis-marketing) and 2005’s “Kingdom of Heaven.” Washington, however, has stayed in good standing with moderate success in 2006’s “Inside Man” and “Déjà Vu” and looks to be in typical strong form as one of the leads. You can’t help but look at Oscar implications with an early November release for the film. Scott has three times been a bridesmaid to the golden statue, but with Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” being the big Academy winner last year, maybe a crime drama can wow critics again all the way to the awards ceremonies in 2008. The trailer is also very well crafted, so it’s definitely worth watching online.
