Fun and exciting but seen it before

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2008)

One of the good gangster/mob epics, this movie is long and needs to be that way since it attempts to tackle two stories and two protagonists. However, despite the length the intensity and story will keep you engrossed throughout.
It is the true life story of a crime boss in Harlem and an honest NYC detective fighting the drug war. One is a mob boss portrayed more as a businessman than a crook and has a very professional approach. The way he figures how to get, import and sell cheaper higher quality drugs than his competition is an interesting story. The other main character is an extremely honest detective whom is embedded in a profession filled with corruption. He is honest in his profession perhaps to compensate for the moral dilemma he faces from being dishonest in his personal life. A major theme of the movie was the corrupt policemen at the time in NYC who were taking bribes from drug dealers and taking advantage of the situation for their own personal benefit. This may remind you of a movie.
The fact that it reminded me of another movie and many movies was a weakness of this particular film. It took ideas and themes from Serpico  the corrupt policeman, Scarface the rise and fall of power of an intense personality, Goodfellas the rise and fall of a gangster and the ratting out, and Heat with the oscillating story of the cop and gangster. I literally saw scenes being repeated. This movie wasn't as good as those older movies because it combined what all those movies did and therefore forfeited depth in any one particular theme. It was also not innovative by any means.
However a very fun entertaining movie experience is created when all these elements of those great movies are put together and as a delightful relish the acting was good.