When Bill told me how long this movie was (2 hrs, 37 min), I thought, "uh oh." I get itchy after 2 hours sitting in one place. I did want to see this though because Denzel is my favorite actor. Truthfully, the first 2 hours flew by; it was only during the last half hour that I became conscious of the movie itself. It had a lot to wrap up and it had to hurry up and do it or else we'd all be sitting there for 3+ hours.
All that said, this is one terrific movie, and Denzel will win the best actor Oscar for it. He is riveting as Frank Lucas, the one-time driver/bodyguard for a black drug boss in Harlem. When the boss dies, Frank slowly and carefully takes over the drug business and becomes the Drug Lord #1. He is smart and canny and if it weren't for that darn chinchilla coat, he'd probably still be at it. Russell Crowe is very good, but the performance to beat is Denzel's. Some of the scenes of drug devastation are hard to watch, but they have to be there or you'd be rooting too much for Denzel. As much as you like him, you have to see the evil and destruction he caused.
1 comment:
Good tips on AG. This looked like a winner from the get-go. I'd sit through 4 hours of a really good movie (See Godfather or Goodfellas).
Denzel is a fine actor but I don't think he should sell drugs - as Vito said "It's a dirty business".
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