The gathering storm on American Gangster, its developing general consensus, seems to be quite good, but there’s still the question of its running time. Universal hasn’t yet been screening the movie that openly, but I had a colleague who caught a recent screening in Las Vegas react with an “ugh,” chiefly (though not completely) because of its length. “It’s 40 minutes too long,” said colleague opined, stressing that point twice. This version was supposedly the final cut, but more tinkering may ensue, who knows.

Still, the performances were there, the source admitted. So with Crowe’s excellent turn in 3:10 to Yuma as well, he’s looking to have a Leonardo DiCaprio-type problem come awards time. For which film would he be more likely to snag an Oscar nomination? It’s hard to say, having not yet seen the former film. Most people would likely lay money on American Gangster, but Yuma director James Mangold has some residual heat from Walk the Line, LionsGate has dumped the movie’s wrongheaded initial marketing scheme, and recent history may be on Yuma‘s side as well. After all, The Departed was more widely embraced than Blood Diamond, yet DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor for the latter. So even if American Gangster shows box office legs, 3:10 to Yuma may be seen as more of a triumph of “simple,” streamlined storytelling, with the praise flowing more directly downhill to its actors.