An intricately woven account of drug trafficking and police corruption in Harlem in the early 1970s.
American Gangster (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:202
Fresh:159
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: American Gangster is a gritty and entertaining throwback to classic gangster films, with its lead performers firing on all cylinders.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for violence, pervasive drug content and language, nudity and sexuality.
Runtime: 2 hrs 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:16-11-2007
Synopsis: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer and Ridley Scott team to tell the true juggernaut success story of a cult figure from the streets of 1970s Harlem in American Gangster. Nobody used... Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer and Ridley Scott team to tell the true juggernaut success story of a cult figure from the streets of 1970s Harlem in American Gangster. Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (OscarŽ winner Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars. Richie Roberts (OscarŽ winner Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top. Washington (Training Day) and Crowe (Gladiator) lead a spectacular cast of accomplished and rising stars--Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, John Hawkes, RZA, Common and T.I.--in this blistering tale of a true American entrepreneur directed by OscarŽ nominee Ridley Scott (Gladiator) and produced by Academy AwardŽ winner Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind) and Scott from a screenplay by Academy AwardŽ winner Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List). -- © Universal Pictures [More]
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Chjwetel Ejiofor
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Carla Gugino, Ted Levine, John Hawkes, RZA, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, Common, T.I.
Director: Ridley Scott
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: Steve Zallian
Producer: Brian Grazer, Ridley Scott
Composer: Marc Streitenfeld
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for American Gangster
Ridley Scott's American Gangster offers both belated history-lesson and demented hero-worship, and seems to be intended as a kind of gift to black America. One hopes that black America will have nothing to do with it.
Scott is something of a romantic at heart. His film is nowhere near as jaded or as hard-bitten as the '70s films such as The French Connection or Serpico that it hopes to echo.
Here's a startlingly original true-life story told in an oddly unoriginal way. And that attempt at instant classic status in the title doesn't quite convince. It's got no more dark grandeur than American Idol.
Sharp, observant and true to the period, the film-making is, on the whole, less determined to show its virtuosity than in Scott's other work.
Length does not add substance to the drama, even where reality adds weight to the argument.
A cocksure upstart that has swaggered onto the scene, confident that it can take its place at the table with the big boys.
American Gangster tells a fascinating story with impeccable production design and two powerhouse performances, but Ridley Scott is no Scorsese and the film never really comes together.
An entertaining romp through familiar cop-and-crim cat-and-mousery, bolstered by strong star turns from Washington and Crowe. Still, it has neither the intelligence nor the grip to jump from the merely good to the truly great.
Scotts best film since Gladiator is a classy cops n robbers thriller where the latter outclasses the former. Crowe tries to redress the imbalance with a committed performance, but you can tell he knows its Washingtons movie.
Like much of his oeuvre, Scotts scaled-up movie is bigger than life and lesser for it. But while never digging deeply or darkly enough to match its own grand vision of itself, slick technique drives the story forward with pace and style.
Long but never boring, it's an expertly crafted slice of mainstream entertainment telling two concurrent stories.
Impeccable production design and searing performances. But the tale unfolds in a superficial way that makes it impossible to care about what might happen.
Flattened by Scott's cardboard evocation of New York in the '70s, Zaillian's shallow criticism of corrupting power, and weirdly bloodless performances
When American Gangster was announced, with actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, it seemed like a can't miss project. It missed.
Latest News for American Gangster
August 16, 2008:
ByAnyMediaNecessary.com: The equal opportunity bone crunching pits real life black druglord kingpin Lucas (a grinning, scary Denzel) and Crowe's womanizing, eager beaver Jewish NYPD crime buster in an ethnically diverse, cat and mouse go at it. ![]()
More...
August 16, 2008:
ByAnyMediaNecessary.com: The equal opportunity bone crunching pits real life black druglord kingpin Lucas (a grinning, scary Denzel) and Crowe's womanizing, eager beaver Jewish NYPD crime buster in an ethnically diverse, cat and mouse go at it. ![]()
More...
July 07, 2008:
American Gangster Sequel Coming? ![]()
Is Universal filming American Gangster 2 in Puerto Rico? More...
May 06, 2008:
2008 MTV Movie Award Nominations Announced
It's almost time to hand out some golden popcorn -- the nominations for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards have been announced! More...
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