The running time is 2 hrs. 56 mins..
Yet, the film doesn't dissolve into the stream of familiarity such as been-there-done-that story arcs would normally achieve. Quite the contrary as director Ridley Scott and writer Steven Zaillian have tapped the true tale of '70s heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) to set the typical gangster film trappings ablaze.
Since Al Pacino scuba dived through an ocean of coke in Scarface, gangster films and pop culture in general, especially hip-hop artists, have wallowed in the glamorization of the gangster lifestyle. American Gangster drops a snow boulder on this image by giving us a gangster who scoffs at the flashy style of his contemporaries and applies the ruthless, calculating business model of your average Fortune 500 Company to the drug trade. In essence, Scott and Zaillian deconstruct all that Scarface wannabes hold dear.
As a mirror to Lucas' story, the film also focuses on the cop, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), who's assigned to slide the jail cell door behind Lucas. American Gangster is not only a fascinating dagger to the heart of the American crime movie, but it's also solid character study piece as well. I'm slightly shocked the fine-tuned performances from Washington and Crowe were ignored during the award season—although, how Ruby Dee garnered an Oscar nomination for such a tiny role is as puzzling as any other mystery of the universe.
The 2-Disc DVD contains both the theatrical film and an extended edition with 18 minutes of new material. Most of the new bits are unobtrusive. However, a car chase spliced in the middle of an existing scene feels silly and while the new ending massages the film's themes, it ruins one of the iconic final shots of 2007.
Strangely, the DVD contains more bonus material than the HD-DVD. One could read the tea leaves and see this is a sign for what we already know; HD-DVD is shipping off to the magical land of Sega Dreamcast, Amelia Earhart, and Uwe Boll's sanity. A couple of deleted scenes include the original opening (that fantastic shot from the trailer of Washington popping a cap into the audience's POV) and a thankfully removed wedding scene.
The DVD also includes 3 "Case Files," which are essentially raw recordings of a script meeting, a technical demonstration for Scott on how he can visually communicate the purity of heroin, and an on the set look at the film's drug bust sequence where Chiwetel Ejiofor gets a face full of door from Crowe. These "Case Files" are short, yet an interesting glimpse at 3 very different aspects of behind the scenes processes.
The guts of the bonus materials feature a documentary called "Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster." Cobbled together from featurettes that can be viewed separately, the documentary gives insight into location shooting, costumes, music, and the true story of Lucas and Roberts. Most of the "Fallen Empire" blusters with everyone verbally blowing Scott (yes folks, we get it—he's the niftiest visualist to ever see from two eyes and the DVD's solid transfer deliver Scott's visuals in all their glory).
I'm not sure what to make of the featurette on "The Real Story" when it tries to persuade us the film is close to how it really went down despite several recent articles stating the opposite. I wish the DVD would have had the pair to address this controversy. When it comes to the film's quality, I couldn't care less how close it sticks to reality. Yet, I don't expect the DVD docs that supposedly tell "The Real Story" to bullshit me. Bad form, old chap.
Considering American Gangster was one of the best films of 2007 with roots steeped in real history, I had hoped for more substantial features. Yet, what Universal delivers isn't a crime in any way, and if you loved the film like me, then this edition is still worth buying despite the always possible double dip.