I ditched the widget shop yesterday and took the wife to see American Gangster.  As I expected, it was everything I thought it would be.

However, one comment I have heard from amateur movie critics is that there was too much Russell Crowe and not enough Denzel Washington.

Yeah, I can see that.  But that is an effort to broaden the scope of the movie.

If the movie focuses on the Rise of Frank Lucas, it becomes Hoodlum.

The balance was very similar to that of The Departed, which was a movie that strived to strike a balance between adding depth to the villain without glorifying his existence.

To truly tell the story of Frank Lucas, there has to be some plea  copping and rationalizing, because those things must exist in order to explain how it is that a man who wreaked so much destruction can also be beloved.

When the story of a Frank Lucas falls into the hands of a Steven Zaillian, Ridley Scott, and Brian Grazer with an eye towards a 100+ Million Dollar box office, then you have to understand that the perspective is everything.

This, is why WHO is telling the story is often more important than WHAT story is being told.