American Gangster

I saw American Gangster yesterday, first I hardly noticed the length of the movie (157 min) second just as with Alonze in Training Day I was in love with Frank Lucas (the character) by the time the end credits rolled. I can love Denzels bow legs ehn, so this movie was a treat for me; enough full shots of him walking with his posse down 116th street, escorting his mother to church, walking down the aisle on his wedding day, entering/exiting his club with his wife, just generally looking dapper. As I watched the movie, I could not help but notice a marked resemblance between Frank Lucas of New York in the late 60's early 70's and Stringer Bell of Maryland in the early 2000. It was a nice movie with a lot of lessons to be learned; never let the enemy/opposition see you coming, generosity practically guarantees loyalty, never mix business with pleasure that is a sure recipe for disaster.

I didn't pay much attention to the soundtrack (which has sold 556,400 copies in 2 weeks of which 250,000 was reportedly bought by def jam) I googled the real Frank Lucas and I can see why Jay-Z was suffering under the illusion that he should play him, the resemblance is quite striking. I have never seen Jay-Z act, but I doubt he could have done a better job than Denzel, no bias.