American Gangster

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe topline this 70s period piece crime drama, and they rule every inch of the screen. At least until supporting players like Josh Brolin or Ruby Dee steal the light. As directed by Ridley Scott (whose Blade Runner the Final Cut is also in select theaters) American Gangster feels epic in length and scope.
While there is typical gangster violence the film doesn't warrent the kind of repeat viewing of Goodfellas or Departed. As a procedural - Crowe is the good guy making a federal case against mobster Washington - the film never grips you like Zodiac. That being said, American Gangster does attach a firm hand on your viewing conscious. The production values are top notch across the board and the story floats by rapidly never announcing its 160 minute running time.
Washington and Crowe are two men with vastly different value systems and yet they seem to be cut from the same bolt of cloth. Crowe's New Jersey cop Richie Roberts has a thing about honesty. In one scene, much to the dismay of his partner, Roberts insists on turning into evidence nearly a million dollars of untraceable cash. Washington playing real life drug dealer Frank Lucas (google him - Lucas' real story far exceeds the one told here) has his own gangster moral code that includes looking out for his rather large family as well as providing superior heroin on Gotham streets at the best prices. Lucas circumvented the mafia by importing his own stash of pure smack from Asia (Vietnam) in the coffins of American soilders.
American Gangster concentrates on the cat and mouse game between Lucas and Roberts. The film only brings themn together at the end, and then it is a meeting of like minds, and the acting vibe will remind movie fans of the De Niro / Pacino confrontation in the middle of Heat.

Wristcutters: A Love Story

You won't feel like slashing your arteries after watching Wristcutters: A Love Story, in fact you'll probably be elated.
Patrick Fugit (Zia) and Shannyn Sossamon (Mikal) wake up after their respective suicides and find themselves in a kind of alternative universe where the colors are bleached and everyone else has also offed themselves. Only Mikal claims she just OD'd accidentally while Zia and his ad hoc Russian driving companion Eugene (Shea Whigham) cruise around looking for who's in charge of this desaturated afterlife.
Originally Wristcutters played at Sundance in 2006 and is just now finding its way into theaters. At times laconic with a veneer of surrealism and light humor Wristcutters concludes with the happiest of endings as parallel universes merge.

Gone Baby Gone

In the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck we explore familiar movie territory – the working class heroes and police and criminal strata of Boston society. Only Affleck has a few aces up his sleeve because he delivers a flick that doesn't unroll like the usual procedural drama.
Case in point: in Mystic River, based on a novel by the same author as Gone Baby Gone, Dennis Lahane, a moral quandary solved brings a family together, only in GBG a similar dilemma drives a family apart. Usually a movie hero shows restraint when arresting a suspect; here the baddie's Miranda rights include a bullet in the back of the head. The film delves headfirst into seedy environments without pausing to judge the occupants, at least at first.


Gone Baby Gone, besides being a line from a killer song by Violent Femmes, unfolds with the murky mystery of a missing pre-school girl. The case becomes more convoluted as pertinent facts are revealed.
The plot resembles a real life kidnapping that occurred in the UK earlier this year and thus Gone Baby Gone has been pulled from distribution in that country. Not oddly that's the same kind of strict justice employed by the film's characters.
Casey Affleck, batting clean-up after his winning performance as Robert Ford in Jesse James, heads what might be called a democratic ensemble line-up. Also bringing strong support to the plate are Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Amy Ryan. Affleck and Harris in particular seem to dig deep into the actor's well of secrets and reveal wonderful nuances of their character's flaws.