American Gangster (2007)

In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Steven Zaillian, Mark Jacobson (article)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe	...	Richie Roberts
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Huey Lucas
Josh Brolin	...	Detective Trupo
Lymari Nadal	...	Eva
Ted Levine	...	Lou Toback
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Nate
John Hawkes	...	Freddie Spearman
RZA	...	Moses Jones
Yul Vazquez	...	Alfonso Abruzzo
Malcolm Goodwin	...	Jimmy Zee
Ruby Dee	...	Mama Lucas
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Doc
Carla Gugino	...	Laurie Roberts
Skyler Fortgang	...	Michael Roberts

Storyline

Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.

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Plot Keywords:

heroin | death | vietnam | smuggling | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

There are two sides to the American dream.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, pervasive drug content and language, nudity and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Return of Superfly

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,564,853 (UK) (16 November 2007)

Gross:

$130,127,620 (USA) (25 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min 176 min (Unrated Edition)

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Terry George was brought on to rewrite the script in order to downsize the project's budget to $50 million when it was first revitalized in March 2005. George had planned on reuniting with his Hotel Rwanda lead, Don Cheadle, to portray Frank Lucas. After George's screenplay was turned down, Steven Zaillian was re-hired to write another draft of his own screenplay.

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Goofs

During the Bronco chase after the $20,000 drug purchase, interior shots of show a Torino name plate on the dashboard. Exterior shots show a Cadilac.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bumpy Johnson: Happy Thanksgiving!

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the closing credits, Frank Lucas approaches the camera and fires one shot from a pistol directly at the audience.

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Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: The Making of 'American Gangster' (2007)

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Soundtracks

"What a Time It Was"
Written by Daniel May
Published by Revision West Music
Performed by Daniel May
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari/Mastersource

User Reviews

A great homage to the American cinema of the seventies and a paradoxical appraisal of American black culture

By the time The French Connection hit the screens in the early seventies, blaxploitation movie was at its peak. At the same time, as this movie implies, a black drug dealer, Frank Lucas, was making a fortune. This movie is, in more than one ways, a tribute to the amazing American movie era of the seventies and a recognition of the situation of American black people in the same period when they were strong enough to fight for their rights but still had no place in the movies to make their point. Frank Lucas is a character who, by completely separating himself from the Italian Mafia and going directly to the source, manages to build a drug empire around Harlem. And who else to see the law is respected but the good old NYPD, only the drug squad is over its head in corruption and abuse. It's up to one guy (Russell Crowe) to set the record straight, make sure the streets are clean, and, what's more important, make sure the police is clean.

This is essentially the whole plot, there are many twists and subplots that keep everything going and give the characters depth. It's true that most of this is not original. The references to The French Connection are explicit in the plot, camera work (see the dynamics that brought Friedkin's movie its well-deserved fame), characters etc. But I think that the critics who said the movie was unoriginal are missing the point. Given that the whole thing starts from the premise of a true story it was only natural that nothing would be "original". But originality can also mean the way a story is told, and I can hardly believe that this amazing package of a story was delivered by Ridley Scott. Everything is very well balanced, the movie may seem baffling at times but nothing is left to chance and every shot in this long movie has a point to make. The dialogues are very well-written and seem quite natural. The "don't look at the camera in order to appear life-like" strategy that backfired in movies such as United 93 works perfectly here. Long continuous shots (sometimes filmed with a hand-held camera) are alternated with montages giving the movie a lot of spunk; the overall editing is very good. The music could have been better but I think the reality effect this movie is trying to produce is enhanced by a more discrete soundtrack. The acting is fine, Denzel is top notch and Crowe is much more refined in his acting than the 1997 LA Confidential cop.

I think that this movie tries, and succeeds, in being an homage to American cinema of the seventies and at the same time making a point about the black community (which was the subject of abuse in The French Connection). By choosing what is regarded as a black icon of Hollywood to play the part of the paradoxically progressive Frank Lucas, Hollywood is finally beginning to learn to be politically correct without rubbing your face into it. The movie clearly shows that drugs were the only solution for a discriminated against person living in a country that was fighting an absurd war. It also clearly shows the overwhelming corruption of the system and the consequences of abuse of power when being an American gangster was more honorable than being an American "cop". Great job for Ridley Scott, I wouldn't have put my money on it but it all worked out in the end...!