American Gangster

Solid cast/starpower pushes it to a four. It's a solid crime-drama. . .not quite paint-by-numbers but you get a sense there's no serious surprises either. I wasn't thrilled with the film's moderate portrayal of a gangster as being a nice guy just for collaborating with the cops- but you have to watch those Hollywood films that start with "Based on a true story" Could've been a great movie- but it's a good movie with good performances.

I took a pass on this when it was in theatres because I had been subjected to so much hype about it that I feared I'd only be watching it from the perspective of whether it was as good as they were all saying. I finally watched it about a month ago and ya' know what, it wasn't as good as they were all saying. It was assembled with the finest of A-level craft by A-level craftsman Ridley Scott. The period recreation was pretty solid seeming, not that I had hung out in the Harlem dope dens of the 70's but I did see Serpico when it first came out, so that must count for something. The acting, what you would expect from dependable players like Crowe and Washington with some fine turns by Cuba Gooding, Armand Assante, Carla Gugino (who coulda used a little more screen time) and blast from the past appearance by Clarence Williams III from Mod Squad fame. The stand out performance for me though was the brilliantly sleazy Josh Brolin (a suspiciously bastard-love-childishly familiar Nic... Read more

The acting was great the story was based on actual historical figures unfortunately the movie is very misleading. Frank Lucas was not a major part of the criminal activities in the African-American communities of New York City. His activities was confined to a very small area. Whereas Nick Barnes and his associates were all over the city. They were the main drug dealers during those days. There is a documentary on DVD called 'Mr. Untouchable about Nicky Barnes and his crew. On this DVD there is a recent recorded conversation between Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes, where Frank Lucas says that Nicky was 'the man', You can tell by the tone of the conversation who was the real boss of the crime world in the African American community. This movie (American Gangster) showed Nicky Barnes (played by Cuba Goodings Jr) in a very negative way. The truth was that Nicky Barnes was more like the way that Denzel Washington portrayed Frank Lucas and the way Cuba Goodings Jr acted was more like the way ... Read more

I love Russle Crowe and Denzel Washington together they make an awesome impact in this great Ganster Movie, and on blue ray its just outstanding to view and make a part of your great movie collection

At first, because it was rated R, I wasn't going to see it, but because it was based on a true story, I thought I'd try it. The opening scene almost made me shut it off, but I hung in there since I enjoy Denzel Washington and Russell Crow (very convincing performances). I was not dissappointed. What struck me was the contrast in the two main characters - Frank Lucas (Denzel), the suave drug dealer/businssman and Det. Richie Roberts (Russell), the humble, extremely honest cop. I grew up in NY during this time and vaguely remember hearing about that. It's a good drama, the era of the late 60s - early 70s was recreated perfectly.

I thought it started off really slow and thought it would never pick up. Finally, later it did. There are some parts that reminded me of 'The Godfather' The parts I liked were when there was gun-fights and some hot nude black girls help with the heroine. I probably wouldn't recommend AMERICAN GANGSTER!!!

I maybe bias...lol but I love Denzel and this movie. Denzel and Russel Crowe bring the characters to life in this movie. It is action packed crime thriller that will keep you hanging on from the moments the credits come on until they go off.

It will hold your interest, but it's nothing that hasn't been done before, and done better (for example, HBO's superb series "The Wire"). Russell Crowe is capable of very good acting, and Denzel Washington is capable of excellent acting, but they both seem to be coasting here. Denzel is unable to make a character composed of such contradictory parts plausible-- he loves his mother and family enough to buy them a luxurious estate in the country, but is also capable of setting a man ablaze while he's still alive, them pumping a half dozen bullets into him as he burns. Not that unraveling the mystery of such a sociopath is possible by the most learned psychiatrists, much less an actor, but the best actors should be able to open windows of at least some understanding and plausibility into the character's psyche through the alchemy of their art. Washington is without question one of America's best actors, but his work here doesn't provide that illuminating quality (contrast it with his stun... Read more

Based on a true story.  This picture is pretty well done, but I agree with the consensus that says the movie is too long.  A lot could have been cut out of the movie, but it's still pretty good.

Denzel plays Frank Lucas, a heartless but complicatedly sympathetic gangster whose MBA-style approach to heroin-peddling turns NY's 1970s underworld on its head. Crowe plays the honest (but adulterous) NJ cop hell-bent on bringing Denzel down. His accent is decidedly more Aussie than Hoboken. Cuba Gooding makes a pretty good coked-out club owner. Worth seeing in the theater but unnecessarily long. Fell just short of my high expectations.