Washington, Crowe & Scott kick it old school "Gangster" in compelling true crime drama

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2007)

American GANGSTER (2007) ***1/2 Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal, Ted Levine, Roger Guenveur Smith, John Hawkes, RZA, Yul Vazquez, Malcolm Goodwin, Ruby Dee, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Carla Gugino, John Ortiz, Cuba Gooding Jr., Armand Assante, Joe Morton, Ritchie Coaster, Jon Polito, Roger Bart. Commanding performances by Washington as '70s Harlem drug dealing gangster Frank Lucas and Crowe as relentless NJ special task force cop Richie Roberts propel this based on a true story account of the drug scene in NYC and how one man's rise to fame as the most notoriously wanted criminal, and the other's determination to bring him down is a shrewd portrait of the obsession for The American Dream. Veteran director Ridley Scott does a decent job in the at-times unwieldy but never boring screenplay by Steven Zaillian and captures the gritty time period with the usual style and panache.