Excellent!!

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2007)

American Gangster is a great film and, I believe, is sure to become one of the classic "gangster" movies. Based on a true story, and set in the 1970's in New York City, gangster Frank Lewis becomes the most successful drug dealer in the city. Lucas begins buying heroin straight from the manufacturer, and creates a monopoly in the heroin business in New York. Lucas moves his family to New York after his business has taken off, and each of his brothers begin working for him. Detective Richie Roberts, a good cop out to end heroin sales, decides that the only way to bring down the drug rings is to go after the drug lords themselves. Met with dirty cops, and bullets around every corner, Roberts is determined to bring down Frank Lucas and his drug ring. Will he be able to catch Frank Lucas, stay alive doing it, and bring down New York's most notorious Heroin dealer? Denzel Washington (Frank Lucas) and Russell Crowe (Richie Roberts) are excellent throughout the film. Washington has that demeanor about him that when he walks into a room, he can instill terror, but still be a lovable guy. Crowe is also excellent, as usual, working with director Ridley Scott once again. Crowe also worked with Scott on Gladiator, which is another film I would highly recommend. American Gangster is very similar to Gladiator, with just a modern day story in place of ancient Rome. Scott does an excellent job at recreating New York in the early 70's, pulling the viewer even further into the life of crime. Costumes and sets are done wonderfully, and the cinematography is shot in a darker-than-real-life way to present the type of lavish lifestyle of Lucas, and the raw, dirty lives of the junkies in the world that we are taking a peak into. Themes of strong family ties, and how a life of crime can destroy a person run throughout, and should be easily noticed by the viewer. Some will not like the ending, but I think that overall, Ridley Scott does an excellent job looking in to the life of Frank Lucas in American Gangster.