ROTTEN TOMATOES: Denzel Washington on American Gangster: The RT Interview Comments

Denzel Washington on American Gangster: The RT Interview

by Rich Cline | November 15, 2007

Summary

Critically acclaimed and professionally lauded, Denzel Washington has taken home two Oscars and a stack of praise for performances in films like Training Day, Malcolm X and Remember the Titans. His latest, American Gangster, is released in the UK on November 16th, and Certified Fresh; Rotten Tomatoes caught up with Washington to find out more. Back to Article

(1-8 of 8 posts) | Reply

arendr writes:
on Nov 15 2007 10:27 AM

Wish this were a little longer. American Gangster was great.

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Scarborough Fair writes:
on Nov 15 2007 01:03 PM

There's something about Denzel Washington that I don't trust. He's got that sleaze in him. I can't put my finger on it. Has he had any divorces because of womanizing or something? Seems like a sleazy womanizer.
Just came in to poop on his good name. For whatever reason.

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MattmanForever writes:
on Nov 15 2007 01:38 PM

You're just jealous Denzel's so cool.

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arendr writes:
on Nov 15 2007 02:09 PM

In reply to this comment (#1278583)
Man, you're way off. Denzel is the epitome of awesome. He's like Sean Connery in his glory days.

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rt_hire_me writes:
on Nov 15 2007 02:21 PM

In the extra features of Inside Man, he told Spike Lee in an interview that he's not really interested in being the lead man anymore, that it would make him just as happy to let someone else get all the praise. I though 'that can't be true!' He's got such monster acting chops. It's like Sting saying he won't do concerts anymore. Only Denzel is still good.

It started with Glory. Great music. Great supporting actor. Great whipping scene. Putting Ferris Buhler in the lead, though, was uninspired.

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TheOneStudentFilmDirector writes:
on Nov 15 2007 02:23 PM

Denzel might be the only big name actor who HASNT had a divorce and actually has had the same No-Name wife for over a decade.

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Dachshund96 writes:
on Nov 16 2007 09:56 AM

I will not see this movie. I don't see the point of it, just like that stupid John Q movie. No point.

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evj1 writes:
on Nov 16 2007 11:21 AM

'American Gangster' not even "loosely" "based on a true story"

In "American Gangster" Richie Roberts (played by Russel Crowe) is the star detective who works the case from beginning to end to bring down Frank Lucas.

But the facts are that two of three former Newark Police detectives, Benny Abruzzo and Eddie Jones had been working the Frank Lucas operation known as the %u201CCountry Boys%u201D for nearly two years out of the Newark Narcotics Bureau until jurisdiction authority compelled the 2 to ask to be temporarily assigned to work the case out of the B.O.N., where Richie Roberts was then the Director/Assistant Prosecutor, and where their partner, Al Spearman was temporarily assigned and working on unrelated cases while also helping the two partners with the investigation.

Roberts neither helped work the investigation nor assigned any of his detectives to assist the three for the 3 weeks they would continue working the investigation from his Bureau and had little knowledge of the case until the day of the arrests when the three detectives requested the assistance of his agency with the search warrants and in rounding and apprehending 30 of Lucas' drug dealing family and cohorts at several locations.

In fact, on June 5, 1975, shortly after the arrests, Roberts wrote a letter to then Director Hubert Williams, highly commending the three, and sheepishly admitted to his non-involvement in the case, %u201CI feel it incumbent upon me to make a record of same, that most of the credit for the arrests and seizures of persons and evidence of said narcotic investigation goes to three narcotic detectives, Alvin Spearman, Edward Jones and Baldesario Abruzzo%u2026Because of the nature of their knowledge of the operation of the %u201CCountry Boys%u201D, other detectives could not assist them in said investigation,%u2026I simply hope that the work of these men does not go unnoticed%u2026%u201D

The three continued to work the case%u2026

So impressed was Richie Roberts with the three detectives%u2019 work that on October 28, 1976 he also wrote former New Jersey mayor, the Honorable Kenneth Gibson, saying, %u201CThe proofs of the case indicated that the narcotic ring, run by the Frank Lucas Family, and called the %u201CCountry Boys%u2019, was operating in and about the City of Newark from 1968 until the day of the raid, May 24, 1975. The arrests and convictions were without parallel in the history of narcotic enforcement in this county and are directly attributable to the work of three Newark Detectives, Alvin Spearman, Edward Jones, and Baldesario Abruzzo. During the course of the trial, said Detectives proved invaluable%u2026%u201D

"Frank Lucas, who officials charge is the boss of a vast heroine empire that stretches from the jungles of Thailand to the streets of Harlem, has been indicted by an Essex County grand jury along with 33 other persons, including his parents and four brothers, it was disclosed yesterday...The indictments stemmed from a three-month undercover investigation by Newark Detectives, Alvin Spearman, Badesario Abruzzo and Edward Jones, Roberts said." %u2013Brian Smith, NY Daily News%u2014July 3, 1975.

%u201C3 ex-New Jersey Cops Topple Drug Empire%u201D %u2013by Joy McIntyre, NY Daily News, Nov. 7, 1976

The information gathered from those arrests helped to bring Frank Lucas to justice, putting an end to his drug-reigning empire. Ritchie Roberts, with the continued assistance from the 3 detectives (along with others), was able to successfully prosecute Frank Lucas who was given 70 years for his crimes.
Ritchie Roberts later got Lucas' term drastically reduced in exchange for information Lucas provided against other criminals (not the movie%u2019s version either). Roberts and Lucas became such good friends that Ritchie Roberts became God-Father to Lucas' son.

The entire premise of the movie %u201CAmerican Gangster%u201D revolves around the fabricated character (Richie Roberts) and character-contrasts and conflicts of the two men, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) and Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) with Richie Roberts portrayed as the savvy detective who works the complex case and eventually brings Frank Lucas%u2019 drug enterprise tumbling down. But in truth, Richie Roberts did not play a part in the real-life drama investigation that collapsed the Drug Kingpin%u2019s empire. It was the work of three former New Jersey detectives and what truths they may introduce after that gets lost in the fact that its utter foundation has been irreparably broken.

Read:
Based on a true story%u2014Naples Daily News
By Jonathan Foerster
Friday, November 2, 2007

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/nov/02/based_true_story/?print

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