Based on the life of drug-kingpin-turned-informant, Frank Lucas, who grew up in segregated North Carolina where he watched as his cousin was shot by the Klan for looking at a white girl. He eventually made his way to Harlem where he became a heroin kingpin by traveling to Asia's Golden Triangle to make connections, shipping heroin back to the US in the coffins of soldiers killed in Vietnam. He soon made upwards of one million dollars a day in drug sales. Lucas was shadowed by lawman, Richie Roberts, who finally helped bring the kingpin to justice. The two then worked together to expose the crooked cops and foreign nationals who made importing heroin so easy.

The main comment you’re likely to hear when discussing American Gangster is it is good but not great. Because while the movie does capture you attention and rivet you for over two hours it does not capture your imagination like many of the great Mafia films of the past. While Frank Lucas is a memorable character that does capture your attention he does not capture your imagination. I believe this in part to be because his reign seems so short, he was king for less than a decade where the previous mafia bosses were kings for most of their lives. In his way he does make the most out of his short time on top and you find yourself wanting to know more about the real man the film is based on. But he is too cool, too collected, to rational, he makes being a gangster seem like being just a smart business man rather than someone you should fear and someone that would gun you down for looking at them wrong.

I think it is film that has given us this false impression, hot blooded manic villains from Scarface, to Goodfellas give us a false ideal of what a true and scary gangster is. It should be more frightening to see such a cool and collected villain who thinks like a businessman but can act out in the most brutal of ways and kill off any competition he might have. Lucas' shows brilliance in his business sense bypassing the middleman and importing his heroin directly from the source via the coffins of fallen soldiers in Vietnam. He also shows brilliance by understanding the bribe cannot be too big, when told it will cost $50,000 to buy off the soldiers to transport his drug he counters with give them all I got left instead (which happens to be double what it should cost him as he has $100,000 left). This is scary smart, this is the kind of gangster we should fear but instead it’s that cool and collected persona that doesn't translate to film well as he doesn't capture our imaginations like he should lending to the good but not great comment.

Now the character that would have made a good villain is the one played by Russell Crowe but the ironic twist is that this flawed character is actually the good guy. Richie Roberts is the good guy that has managed to screw up every portion of his life except his job and his honor as a police office. So honest to a fault that he turns in a million dollars of untraceable drug money rather than getting his hands dirty like most of his coworkers. He hangs onto the last portion of his honor that he hasn't soiled like a drowning man gripping a piece of driftwood for survival. Where Frank Lucas is composed and has all his ducks in a row, Richie on the other hand is a complete mess and the polar opposite to Frank Lucas. Its an interesting dynamic where the murdering criminal has his personal life in order and the too honest for his own good cop's personal life is a complete mess.

This is another all star cast much like last years the Departed and each of the actors gives a great performance. Denzel Washington to me has been stuck in the angry black man role with a gun many times, whether he is the good guy or the bad guy is all that seems to differ of late. But he is believable in the roles and that’s why they probably keep giving them to him, you can see him as the cool collective businessman who is not afraid to sell drugs or commit the occasional murder or two. Russell Crowe is one of my favorite actors despite being a person who seems like somebody I would never want to meet or associate with. But that's fine I don't have to like Russell Crowe the person just Russell Crowe the actor and he is one of the best working in Hollywood right now. So the movie seems to fit the bill with just one slight alteration, really good not just good but still not great.

Grade: B+