Nice to see a different kind of gangster film....

Rating: 9/10 (25 September 2008)

One in which it isn't about the Italian or Russian mob. The gangsters here are American born and run Harlem. Headman Bumpy Johnson dies and his driver, Frank Lucas, decides its his time to take over the business. Frank's getting squeezed by local players and decides he must do something to get more of the dope market and to be the top dog. There are reports that soldiers in Vietnam are becoming addicted to heroin because of its cheap price and easy access. Frank goes over there and uses some connections and makes a deal to ship pure heroin using Army planes back to the US for distribution. Before long he has control over the dope market in New York and is top dog. He even shoots someone on the sidewalk in front of many people to prove he's not afraid and to put fear in the commoner.
Russell Crowe plays the cop whom is assigned to form a drug force to take down big players in New York. His investigation leads to once unknown Frank as being the big supplier.
So, the latter part of the film is the police investigation into Frank and how the dirty cops play into it all. The film also shows us some of Frank's personal life with his mom and wife. And it's all very entertaining. The film is long at over 2 and a half hours, but it seemed to fly by. That's the mark of a good film.
FINAL VERDICT: I'm a big fan of Russell Crowe and he doesn't disappoint here. He's good in this as well as Denzel. The film is one of the best of the year.