An intricately woven account of drug trafficking and police corruption in Harlem in the early 1970s.
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11/16/07
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American Gangster (2007)
79 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 198
Fresh: 157
Rotten:41
Average Rating: 7/10
Consensus: American Gangster is a gritty and entertaining throwback to classic gangster films, with its lead performers firing on all cylinders.
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 to notice Frank Lucas (Oscar® winner... [More]
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Chjwetel Ejiofor
Director: Ridley Scott
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.
11/16/07
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.
11/16/07
Top Critic 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.
11/16/07
Top Critic 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.
11/15/07
Length does not add substance to the drama, even where reality adds weight to the argument.
11/15/07
Top Critic A cocksure upstart that has swaggered onto the scene, confident that it can take its place at the table with the big boys.
11/15/07
Top Critic 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.
11/15/07
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.
11/14/07
Top Critic Scott’s 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 it’s Washington’s movie.
11/14/07
Like much of his oeuvre, Scott’s 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.
11/14/07
Top Critic
Top Critic Long but never boring, it's an expertly crafted slice of mainstream entertainment telling two concurrent stories.
11/03/07
Impeccable production design and searing performances. But the tale unfolds in a superficial way that makes it impossible to care about what might happen.
11/03/07
If it were not for some adept performances, American Gangster could almost be a particularly brutal made for TV movie.
05/22/08
Washington may have not wanted to glorify the Harlem drug dealer, but with his superb acting skills he has created one of the coolest gangsters since Tony Montana.
05/20/08
Telling a true story doesn't excuse a filmmaker from making his movie stand out from the many others that have traversed similar ground.
05/01/08
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...
Related Forums for American Gangster
Are the 18 extra minutes absolutely necessary?
by: three11ice 4/13
by: three11ice 4/13
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