One of the essential American crime movies

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2015)

Excellent movie on all counts, a crime epic telling the early 1970's rise to power of Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) alongside detective Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), the N.Y cop trying to nail him. I liked how both of these men followed moral codes, just on different sides.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it's pretty much essential crime movie viewing, reminding me of 'Scarface' and up there with 'The Departed, Casino, Goodfellas, Carlito's Way, The Godfather, and Blow.' The story is well put together and absorbing although I'll admit to never being completely swept away, maybe because it didn't seem all that original. Still it's filled with atmosphere, style, a clever (interesting) plot. It's gritty, violent -but probably not as much as you'd expect, with excellent performances from Washington & Crowe.
The cast is also a veritable who's-who and definitely part of the fun in seeing who will turn up next. (Armand Assante, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr.,Idris Elba, Josh Brolin, Norman Reedus)
There are a couple of brilliant scenes that definitely stand out here; Denzel walking up to Idris Elba in the middle of a busy street and showing all of Harlem who's in charge now, in a very violent and shocking way. Another favourite would be Crowe (and backup) waiting outside Sunday church for Denzel, its all very civil and beautifully shot. The final big bust is also awesome, tense, violent and chaotic. 4/20/15