AltWeeklies Wire
Jay-Z Falls Shortnew
American Gangster is considerably better than 2006's lackluster Kingdom Come, if only because it returns Jay-Z to his criminal comfort zone.
Tags: American Gangster, Jay-Z
Jay-Z Loses the Plot While Trying to See the Big Picturenew
His wordplay is dense, and perhaps more complex than ever, but, for the first time, Jay-Z's lyrics look better on paper than they sound on record.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
11-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Jay-Z
True Hollywood Storynew
Gladiator director Ridley Scott glams up the life of Harlem heroin distributor Frank Lucas.
Baltimore City Paper |
Joe MacLeod |
11-08-2007 |
Reviews
Passable Entertainmentnew
Washington and Crowe shine in the well-directed American Gangster, but the movie's merely decent.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
11-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
Jay-Z: America's Most Overrated Rappernew
Rap's Grateful Dead? Hova? Young? The No. 1 MC of all time? None of the above.
Houston Press |
Ben Westhoff |
11-06-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Jay-Z
Thug Love?new
American Gangster both condemns and lionizes drug kingpin Frank Lucas.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Cindy Fuchs |
11-06-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
'American Gangster' Wastes Two Brilliant Actorsnew
Director Ridley Scott keeps everything dark and moody, the better to court Oscar's favor. But this is no Godfather or The Departed; it's too inert.
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
Great Scottnew
Ridley's latest is rote and derivative -- and one of his best films in years.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Sean Burns |
11-05-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
'American Gangster' is a Heroin-Dealing Disappointmentnew
There's a lot that this movie promises and never delivers.
Montreal Mirror |
Mark Slutsky |
11-02-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
Dealing Drugs is Fun, Profitablenew
Yes, American Gangster touches on all sorts of things -- Vietnam, police corruption, urban decay, race -- but at its entertaining core, it's really just about two badasses going head to head.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
11-01-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe Face Off -- Sort ofnew
Is it not unavoidably frustrating in a movie when the two main antagonists almost never see each other?
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
'American Gangster': A Criminal Mindnew
Ridley Scott turns up the heat.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Curt Holman |
11-01-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
Denzel vs. Russell: The Winner Gets All the Heroinnew
American Gangster is a blunt brick of a movie; neither very stylish nor terribly complex, it still takes 157 minutes to batter home its muscular tale of men who speak softly and carry big guns.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
10-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
'American Gangster' Shows Crime Doesn't Paynew
The film is quite a high-caliber affair, with a star-studded cast and close attention to period details -- but it's overlong, a little too morally precise, and spends too much time on Russell Crowe's character, who is hardly as interesting as Denzel Washington's smooth, sinister schemer.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Cheryl Eddy |
10-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
'American Gangster' Doesn't Rise to the Level of 'Scarface'
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe deliver inspired performances as rivals from opposite sides of the law in director Ridley Scott's true-crime epic.
Tags: American Gangster, Ridley Scott
