American Gangster

Although decent, this movie could’ve used some tighter editing (Pietro Scalia is usually very dependable – what went wrong?) and a stronger overall story arc. There are some scenes of individual power – almost all of them involving Denzel Washington as the villain. But Russell Crowe’s child custody subplot is unnecessary as they could’ve mentioned it in one scene or even a line and it would’ve had the same impact. 

Plus, it lacks the scope and visceral shock of movies like the first 2 Godfather films or Goodfellas. There’s nothing here you haven’t really seen before (unless you’re totally unfamiliar with the gangster genre) and no memorable/iconic sequences.

Ridley Scott should probably stick to directing sword & sandal epics or sci-fi thrillers because this doesn’t play to his strengths. I’m not unhappy with the final result but I have no desire to see it again. See it if you must in the theatre but you’d probably be better off renting it later on when you’ve got nothing else to do.

STANDOUT: Josh Brolin as the corrupt Special Investigations Unit detective. His performance was appropriately slimy, intimidating and fascinating. 

Enchanted

In Enchanted, Disney is content with shoveling us the same old shit and calling it sugar.

I was hoping this would be a biting satire of the Mouse House’s past fables but instead they played it safe and only increased their self-awareness: “Yes we know how silly the musical numbers were in those old cartoons, so let’s ratchet up the camp level a little for this film!” Except for a bizarrely crude cleaning-song parody involving NYC’s vermin (amusing in concept and maybe initially but like all the movie’s good parts, the fun factor was quick and fleeting), I can’t think of anything that makes this different from all the other cookie-cutter sludge the company churns out every year.

Disney really made it seem like they were going to town on all the soggy cliches clogging up their extensive family-friendly output but it’s not like I was expecting this to star Sarah Silverman (though that would have been genius). Instead we get James Marsden beginning to belt an over-the-top “I’ve been dreaming of…” and then getting hit by a group of bicyclists in Central Park. That’s about it.

All the scenes with McDreamy were snooze-worthy and highlighted the main problem of Enchanted: its tone. The real world scenes weren’t crazy enough… in fact, they tried to act like this was reality and not, you know… a fucking DISNEY production. No police or post-9/11 military personel patrolling the city at all? Not a single person thinks about sending Amy Adams to a psychiatric ward (though that might have been too darkly comedic)? It’s either a total fantasy or not. You can’t try to have it both ways.

In the end it’s another dumbed-down kid flick. There are much worse injustices in this world and if you’re satisfied with that then by all means, bring the whole Sunday School class.