American Gangster
Director: Ridley Scott
Rated: MA 15+
Now screening


It may not be easy to actually like a ruthless, drug smuggling gangster, but real life heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) was apparently just that... quite the likeable, albeit murderous, thug. After Lucas' boss, the also genial and generous Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), dies from a heart attack Lucas takes a disliking to the way the then modern gangster types are doing business and takes it upon himself to monopolise the New York drug trade by, via the US military, bringing in insane amounts of heroin hidden in coffins from Vietnam.

Pretty soon Lucas begins to make a lot of money by marketing his potent 'Blue Magic' brand of heroin at a ridiculously low price and reinvesting his gains into nightclubs and real estate, before moving his entire family from North Carolina to New Jersey where his five brothers willingly become active participants within his organization.

In the meantime, hard-done-by detective Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is failing in his marriage and, after being ostracised by his fellow officers due to his honesty, moves to a new precinct and begins to head a newly formed task force especially designed to stop the drug flow.

At over two and a half hours, 'American Gangster' could be a tad too long, but that generally depends on one's need for background detail of all the major players. Personally I had no problem, due to the fact that other than the usual good guys versus the evil scum-bucket, kid killing drug dealers, the more information divulged about the characters from both sides the better.

In this case we're informed that Frank Lucas was, at least on the surface, a charitable sort of chap who loved his mum. A part that the usually very affable and all round nice guy Washington had very little trouble portraying, which in turn highlighted his acting skills when it came to the duplicity required for the less desirable side of his character. Crowe too should be highly commended, although playing a scruffy unshaven cop may not be extending his role playing abilities too far, it's how he takes on board all the personal, compassionate woes of his part. How he manages to take heed of his own flailing self-control through the chase certainly takes things beyond what could have been a two dimensional offering.

Set in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies, director Ridley Scott has done a mighty fine job at keeping to the period and, while we're given that up-close and personal screening of people's more tender homely moments, out on the streets the action is quick, sharp and extremely graphic. 'American Gangster' is therefore a very serious contender alongside the 'Godfather' series and 'Scarface'. This is definitely Hollywood at it's very best.

Steve Jones