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American gangster - Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Ridley Scott

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream in the Harlem of the 1970s. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars.

Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, making them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation where only one of them can come out on top.

Theatrical propaganda posters

American gangster theatrical one sheet image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Frank Lucas biography drug dealer Vietnam War police crime detective Narc Seventies

Persons of interest

Denzel Washington .... Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe .... Detective Richie Roberts
Chiwetel Ejiofor .... Huey Lucas
Josh Brolin .... Detective Trupo
Lymari Nadal .... Eva
Ted Levine .... Detective Lou Toback
Roger Guenveur Smith .... Nate
John Hawkes .... Detective Freddie Spearman
RZA .... Moses Jones
Yul Vazquez .... Alphonse Abruzzo
Malcolm Goodwin .... Jimmy Zee
Ruby Dee .... Mama Lucas
Ruben Santiago-Hudson .... Doc
Carla Gugino .... Laurie Roberts
Skyler Fortgang .... Michael Roberts
John Ortiz .... Javier J Rivera
Cuba Gooding Jr .... Nicky Barnes
Armand Assante .... Dominic Cattano
Kathleen Garrett .... Mrs Dominic Cattano
Joe Morton .... Charlie Williams
Ritchie Coster .... Joey Sadano
Bari K Willerford .... Joe Louis
Idris Elba .... Tango
Common .... Turner Lucas
Warner Miller .... Melvin Lucas
Albert Jones .... Terrence Lucas
J Kyle Manzay .... Dexter Lucas
Mark Jacobson .... Author: The return of Superfly
Steven Zaillian .... Screenwriter
Ridley Scott .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

American gangster official movie site
American gangster film production notes
American gangster QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2008: Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Ruby Dee), Best Achievement in Art Direction (Arthur Max, Beth A Rubino)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2008: Nominated: Picture - Drama, Actor In A Leading Role - Drama (Denzel Washington), Director (Ridley Scott)
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2008: Won: Best Supporting Actress (Ruby Dee)

Studios and distributors:

Universal Pictures

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Uh... hmmm... ok. Like any film about a real criminal and a real cop you will find with American gangster that the tension is somewhat lacking. The cop always gets the criminal (otherwise you wouldn't know half the story) so the only way to make the film interesting is to make the chase as complicated and challenging as possible. Two-and-a-half hours later the cop has finally caught his man; that's just too long to watch some police dude chase some crim dude. Even Border Patrol doesn't go that long.

The Frank Lucas biography movie American gangster is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington.