Ridley Scott's Epic

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2012)

Ridley Scott is one of the finest directors and why the Academy Awards keeps snubbing him is beyond me.
This is truly an epic film, depicting the gritty New York/New Jersey drug scene in the 1970's. Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington are the main protagonists and both are sublime as usual. To me, the real badass of the film is Josh Brolin. He steals every scene as Detective Trupo of the Special Investigations Unit. Such corruption was commonplace in the 1960's and 70's, which resulted in Frank Serpico exposing the widespread practice of cops "on the take." Crowe is excellent as the honest cop searching for a decent team of crusaders to solve the puzzle of the distributor of Blue Magic.
The attention to detail in recreating 1970's New York is outstanding. The whole picture has a "French Connection" feel.
The supporting cast is great too: Cuba Gooding Jr., Armand Assante et al.
This is a really great film. However, as I commented on the message board, the one thing that disturbed me was the fawning over the real Frank Lucas on the extras DVD. This is a man who killed people directly or indirectly and people were all too willing to "kiss his ring" when he was on the set. Is there any decency at all anymore?