O.G. before there was O.G.
How It Rates: ***1/2
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin
Rated: R
Red Flags: Language, Pervasive Drug Content, Nudity, Some Sexuality
Denzel Washington has such charisma, it's hard to imagine him as the villain. That's why he's absolutely perfect for the role of Frank Lucas, the true-life Harlem drug kingpin who gets rich in the late 60's and early 70's by selling high-grade heroin at a low price. He does for smack what Wal-Mart does for just about everything else. Lucas peddles dope with a corporate air, buying directly from a supplier in Thailand, shipping it out in the caskets of American soldiers killed in Vietnam, and branding it under the name "Blue Magic." One scene shows him berating a dealer for cutting the product, thereby diluting the brand. One wonders what Lucas could have done in legitimate corporate America, but what does it matter? He thinks he is legitimate corporate America because he's offering a product people want for a reasonable amount of money and sticking it to The Man.
"See, ya are what ya are in this world," he says. "That's either one of two things: Either you're somebody, or you ain't nobody."
Dope-dealing in New York City operates with partial permission of the cops, who are either corrupt or corruptible, except for Detective Richie Roberts (Crowe). He's going through law school while busting dopers, trying to stay clean in a filthy profession, and yet his incessant womanizing is breaking up his marriage. Roberts turns in a trunkload of money other cops would have instantly pocketed, making him a huge pariah in the department. However, he's just who the feds are looking for to bring in drug lords. He gets carte blanche to build a team and go for it.
Lucas, meanwhile, is building both his wealth and his family's comfort level. He moves them out of North Carolina and into New York City, helping them get set up in all sorts of front operations for his drug running and taking his mother to church on Sundays. Lucas conducts himself like a good corporate citizen, doling out 'gangsta' justice in controlled bursts.
He cautions his relatives against too much style. "That's a clown suit," he says to one brother. "That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room."
Despite every precaution, Lucas is making too much money and selling too much dope to fly under the radar. Detective Roberts, relentless at finding who's behind Blue Magic continues to build his case. But he soon finds putting Lucas away will require working around tainted narcotics detectives who are collecting their share.
American Gangster is about people operating outside the law -- Lucas in the narcotics trade, Roberts as the prototypical "good cop." Lucas is cashing in, while Roberts only wishes he could. A memorable scene shows Lucas' family saying grace at Thanksgiving intercut with people suffering and dying from the product they sell. Another scene shows Roberts with the stash of cash he gave up by turning it in. Both men think they live legitimate lives, but their legitimacy has been stepped on over and over again like street-corner dope.
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