When one describes a film that narrates the rise and fall of a gangster with an ethnic background, throughout several decades, nine readers out of ten will be thinking of Scarface. And that is exactly the prejudice that American Gangster will have to deal with at the box office.

The irony is that there is really no comparison between the two features. And not just because Scarface is in a league of its own. American Gangster is a totally different film. Where Scarface is a colourful and violent account that was quite operatically executed ( ‘Say hello to my little friend’ can easily be seen as an aria of some kind) and works up to a climax that stretches suspension of disbelief to its limit, American Gangster is quiet, subdued, and thoughtful. This is appropriate, since I have just described one of its main characters.

Denzel Washington portrays Frank Lucas who, when his boss and mentor dies, comes up with a clever plan to take over the drug trade. Rather than buy diluted product from the Italian crime bosses, he gets his heroine directly from the source (with a little help from the armed forces in Vietnam). Lucas quickly rises to the top of the ranks of the NY crime circuit but, because he manages to stay under the radar by way of a completely unassuming attitude, does not catch the attention of the NYPD or the newly instated drug task force. Until detective Richie Roberts (played by Russel Crowe) starts paying attention, that is.

Rather than go all out with (as one of my friends calls it:) guns, tits and helicopters, director Ridley Scott, takes time to tell the story. At two hours and forty minutes, American Gangster is quite long, but not too long. Scott gives his actors, and his narrative, time to breath and to develop. American Gangster, instead of being one action packed set piece after the other, speaks of families (of the criminal and non criminal variety), of perseverance, of the different faces of ethics, of loneliness as the inevitable price for a specific choice of lifestyle, and of how motives and goals may shift during the course of a lifetime.

Where Scarface is a film of the belly, the gut, American Gangster appeals to the heart and mind. And once the viewer has let go of their expectations, that means American Gangster is very watchable in its own category.

Does this mean American Gangster is above reproach? Not quite. Although American Gangster is well made and its thoughtful approach a huge asset, at times the film comes of a little bland. This is mainly due to the acting. Denzel Washington is a very accomplished actor, but has a fairly small vocabulary and range, which by now is beginning to show. Both in his portrayals as good guys and bad guys, Washington always exhibit the same display of emotions. And because it has been seen before many (many, many) times, his performance is starting to come of as a series of tricks. Old tricks that is, and unable to fully hold the viewers attention or enable them to really connect to the character of Frank Lucas. Russel Crowe is also a very accomplished actor, but here cannot pull of the dichotomy that is Richie Roberts. We see his unreasonable temper and irresponsible behaviour as well as his intelligence and patience, but Crow does not manage to convey how these extremes can exist in the same person, or why.

Besides our two main characters, almost every black actor currently employed in the movie business shows up on screen including the delightful Ruby Dee and Chiwetel Ejiofor (two actors yours truly can never get enough of) and a plethora of near-cameos from the likes of RZA and Cuba Gooding.

Ridley Scott has taken a grand theme, a big budget and a long runtime and yet has managed to create what feels like a small film. American Gangster walks a different path from (for instance) the testosterone and muscle flexing of a Michael Mann film. Instead it feels almost like an art-house feature: it is minute, careful, measured and well thought out. Which makes it all the more lamentable that it adds up to slightly less than the sum of its parts. It will probably not go down in history as a classic. Still, for those who don’t expect Oscar-worthy performances or gun toting, drug using, violence glorifying action sequences, watching American Gangster will equal having a nice time at the cinema.