Nap time ...
Denzel Washington is a great actor. But he has been in two of the longest movies I've ever been to -- Malcolm X and (last weekend) American Gangster.
Not only were both of these movies long, but they felt long -- never a good thing.
And, while I liked both movies, I didn't love either of them.
American Gangster didn't really live up to the hype for me. I don't even think it's the best gangster movie in the last two years (behind The Departed). And I'll never forget the black guy behind me at Malcolm X snoring so loudly it was hard to hear some of the lines. (That about says it all, really.)
Comments
Since you mentioned The Departed and Malcolm X, I think those both are wonderful, good movies. On the other hand, American Gangster needed more "meat" - if you understand what I mean. I was hoping that at over two hours long, the movie would have had more substance and grit and authenticity...
Posted by: Cherrye Ann | November 8, 2007 7:37 AM
Sure, 'Malcolm X' was long, but Denzel was riveting. It's worth all that time to get to the end, when Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" is playing, and to hear Ossie Davis' touching eulogy of Malcolm.
And Denzel was ROBBED for the Oscar that year by Al "Hoo-ahhhh!!!" Pacino in 'Scent of a Woman.' That still pisses me off.
Posted by: Rob | November 8, 2007 11:06 AM
I'm not saying Malcolm X wasn't a good movie. I thought it was really good (better than Gangster, frankly), but it could have been about 30 minutes shorter and still held true to the story.
Denzel was robbed, but he should have known the Hollywood adage: play a handicapped role, win an Oscar.
And Cherrye Ann, I think I know what you mean. I felt like I had seen a lot of Gangster before. Although, from what I understand, it seems like a lot of that was pretty authentic, according to the BET documentary on Frank Lucas.
Posted by: cvelez | November 8, 2007 11:23 AM