There are two sides to the American dream

Rating: 6/10 (9 April 2008)

Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. Meanwhile, a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government.
I'm biased towards gangster films. No, not films like "Lucky # Slevin" and "Running Scared." Those two films are unlike any gangster films I've ever seen. I'm biased towards films like "Scarface," "The Departed," "Carlito's Way," etc. The real gangster films. Why? I just don't like to watch such things like that.
I was and wasn't looking forward to this. Like many successful gangster films, this peaked my interest, yet I'm still against these types of films. Like "The Departed," there wasn't really anything special and brilliant about this film. However, I will say it tries to be different than just naming people "Johnny" and "Carlito" or "Pablo."
Like "The Departed," the true and best part of this film is during the third act, where everything builds up and eventually lead to a satisfying confrontation and/or ending. The first and second acts aren't too interesting to me. Sure, there are probably about seven scenes that would interest me but overall, nothing special.
The performances by "Denzel Washington" and "Russel Crowe" are as good as always; no questions about it, however, I did not really connect with Crowe's accent. This wasn't a brilliant film, nor a modern masterpiece, in my opinion. I just think the only good part with gangster films are their endings and this one isn't different.