American Gangster

Movie / Show Details

Product Description

Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe team with director Ridley Scott (Gladiator) for an epic story as powerful as it is true. Armed with ruthless, street-wise tactics and a strict sense of honor, crime boss Frank Lucas (Washington) rules Harlem’s chaotic drug underworld. When outcast cop Richie Roberts (Crowe) sets out to bring down Lucas’s multi-million dollar empire, it plunges both men into a legendary confrontation. American Gangster is “a brutal and brilliant film.” (Pete Hammond, Maxim)

Bonus Content:
Commentary with Director Ridley Scott and Writer Steven Zaillian Alternate Opening Frank and Eva’s Wedding Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster – Tru-Blu: The Real Story Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster – Killer Threads: Costumes Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster – Crime War: Production Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster – Into the Arena: Ali vs. Frazier Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster – Rhythm of the Street: Sound, Music and Editing Case Files: Script Meeting Case Files: Heroin Test Show & Tell Case Files: Setting Up the Takedown

Amazon.com

Ridley Scott puts on his “sweeping saga” gameface again, this time not for the sci-fi vistas of Blade Runner or the ancient world of Gladiator but for an urban epic. American Gangster gives the story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), a real-life Harlem crime lord who built an empire on Southeast Asian heroin in the 1970s. Running parallel to Lucas’s somewhat standard story is the investigation led by a persistent New Jersey cop, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). Roberts is a more interesting character than Lucas–too honest for his own good, unlucky in his personal life–and this kind of character, easily patronized by others, fits Crowe like a polyester shirt. Scott’s tendency to hit his points square on the noggin is much in evidence here, including the typecasting of the supporting roles and the predictable Serpico atmosphere of the whole thing. (And speaking of supporting actors, the film needs more Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose role as a Lucas sidekick feels cut down.) It succeeds as a kind of chewy entertainment, fueled by the presence of two big stars working their muscles. Both Washington and Crowe look pretty brawny here. –Robert Horton

Beyond American Gangster on DVD
Great Crime and Gangster Films
More from Denzel Washington
More from Russell Crowe

Stills from American Gangster (Click for larger image)