Long but Engrossing Movie

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2009)

The movie name may suggest that it is a movie glorifying another Gangster or Mafia head. Well it is not only that. It can be divided into two streams of stories that hold two different perspectives - One good and one Bad (This is left to the discretion of the viewer who to consider good and whom to consider bad). Based on a true story and set in the late 1960's, this movie talks about two people, A gangster drug-lord with a heart of gold - Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and a honest but somewhat crazy cop - Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe). Lucas revolutionizes the Drug business by cutting down the middlemen and selling 100% pure dope with a price half than the impure ones. His product named 'Blue Magic' is a rage on the streets and it shuts down the business of other Mafia's. But Popularity brings in enemies as well which helps the cops eradicate his gang slowly. The movie is about 3 hours long, but for such a long movie, it does not loses the viewer's interest. I for one was very much keen to know what will happen next which made me complete the movie in one sitting. Credit should be given to the direction .
Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, both have been given enough screen space. But separately. They share screen space just for mere 5 - 7 minutes in the climax. Nothing bad to say about both of them. They played their part nicely. A good watch for crime genre lovers.
Rating : 7/10