Synopsis:

Two Tales restructures the Extended Cut of American Gangster from one that inter-cuts the stories of Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas into one that is built around three distinct sections; Richie's story, Frank's story, and once they collide.

Intentions:

This is not a fanfix! The theatrical (and extended) cuts of American Gangster is one of my favorite movies and is executed flawlessly with powerful performances by Academy Award winning actors, directed by someone who should have more than one but hasn't. That said, while the bulk of Hollywood films traditionally have your A story, B story and so-on, American Gangster has two A stories, so since seeing it in the theater I was curious about what it would be like to see each of them be featured stories. This approach allows the viewer to really focus on each character's story, seeing it from their perspective; Richie's struggles with being principled cop at a time of rampant corruption and then gets a chance to make a difference chasing a mysterious new drug king-pin, then we get to watch Frank, a diligent enforcer who methodically builds an criminal empire. It's a fascinating alternative to the theatrical's inter-cutting approach.

Change List:

The basic process was to take the first two acts and cut them apart based on who's story it was and then stitch them together and then find the appropriate part to merge them together. There was much back and forth on how to get everything to line up just right but the basic approach was to tear it apart and resort the scenes as needed.

Additional Notes:

the only cuts were incidental moments at the beginning or end of a scene to allow for editing.

Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

thecuddlyninja for providing artwork without even being asked! Gatos, NJVC, Dwight Fry and ArtisDead for previewing then and now!