Hi Murph!

Just back from the screening of American Gangster in Pasadena, California.  They told us we were the first audience to see the film.  I felt very privileged.

It was a wonderful film.  Great acting, great story, great action.  The settings were all so good.  It has it all.  It's such a quality movie.  Ridley did a fabulous job.  The film was 2 hours and 25 minutes at this time.

Denzel Washington has the showier part.  He was great.  Denzel's Frank Lucas was more the community and family man who was a ruthless violent man. 

Russell was terrific.  His role as Richie Roberts grows on you as his character grows and builds his case.  He is tenacious.  An amazing cop who's life is flawed personally. 

I don't want to give away spoilers that will ruin anything for anyone before the film is released, but I will most definitely see it again and recommend it to everyone I know as I did The Departed this last year.

Brian Grazer was there.  I didn't see Ridley, but that doesn't mean he wasn't in attendance.  There was not one empty seat I saw in the large theater where it screened.

Josh Brolin and Ruby Dee really stood out for me in the supporting cast too.

Russell has made another superb quality film with Brian Grazer and Ridley Scott!

Marie.

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More from Marie on the film (Some spoilers ---):

The audience loved the film.  Lots of enthusiastic clapping at the end.  Very few people left for the bathroom during the film despite it's length, LOL.  The people all rated the film around me as good or excellent (the highest rating).  You could overhear many favorable comments all around regarding the story and acting.  They obviously enjoyed it.  I really should have stayed with the small focus group and answered more questions for the filmmakers.  If it hadn't been Wednesday and already getting late with an early AM today, I would have. 

Denzel was a brutal killer who had no qualms about selling all the heroin he could to make a profit and make himself and his family rich. He cared deeply about his community and family (even though many were using heroin in his community and ultimately in his family).

Richie on the other hand was so honest he returned a money recovery of over 900,000 dollars even though it marked him a pariah his squad room with his fellow cops who no longer trusted him.  He did it because if was the right thing to do.  What I think some will be very surprised (those pictures from on set earlier showed him walking with Carla Guigino who played his wife and the little boy who played his son), but from the beginning he was going through a divorce from his wife with an acrimonious custody battle.  Things came out during the fighting over his son that he had been a very unfaithful husband (he has a very roving eye) and that he spent little time with his son.  He was so consumed with his job, plus he was going to law school and passes the bar during the time of passing in the film.

So Richie was so up and up in his professional life, yet his personal life was a mess.