American Gangster

Went to Cayden's 1st birthday celebration at a chalet in Bukit Batok on Saturday night. Watched American Gangster after that with Derrick at Vivocity.

American Gangster is set in 1970s United States when corruption is rampant among police officers and crime is rife. The movie focuses on the ghetto neighbourhood and the drug trafficking industry. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) rules the inner-city drug trade and becomes the city's main corrupter. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an upright cop assigned to the case and they square off where only one of them can come out on top.

Denzel Washington puts up a dazzling performance as the stern and intelligent boss who manages his drug trafficking empire while Russell Crowe puts up a noteworthy performance as the dedicated cop who devotes all his time on solving the cases. The movie is a character-driven film and it takes its time to build up the 2 lead characters. Ridley Scott is again at his assured best and the direction is solid and commendable.

The story is engrossing and suspenseful despite the movie length of 157 mins and it is based on a true story. I would have welcomed more violence in the show though.