365+ movies in 365 Days: Day 136 - American Gangster

American Gangster is about capitalism at it's best. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) sees an under served customer base, goes directly to the source to buy his product cutting out the middle man. He delivers quality merchandise at a price lower than the competition, pays a good wage to keep his workers happy and invests his profits back into his business. Unfortunately, when your product is heroin, there are complications. The middle man you cut out is the Mafia and the cops on the take. Some of your distributors might not protect your brand name and dilute your product to increase their profits. It's difficult to line up new means to import your product, and the police are always on the lookout for you.

Set in the late 60's and early 70's American Gangster is based on the true story of how enforcer Frank Lucas for Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III) takes over as a crime boss in Harlem after Bumpy dies. He decides to stop using the Mafia as a supplier and flies to southeast Asia where he makes deals to buy heroin direct from the source, and use contacts in the U.S. military to smuggle the drugs via Army transport planes. He only partially dilutes the heroin and then puts it on the street at a lower price than the competition. Soon his product "Blue Magic" is all the rave and Frank is swimming in money. He uses that money to take care of his family and surround himself with lieutenants he can trust, his brothers.

Meanwhile Russell Crowe is an undercover detective Richard "Richie" Roberts on the Newark police force. He is putting himself through law school and struggling to keep his marriage afloat. When he and his partner find close to a million dollars during an investigation he turns it in, establishing himself as an honest cop, but ostracizing himself and his partner from every cop on the force. A guy that would turn in a million bucks is a guy that would turn in a dishonest cop.

His honesty works in his favor when he is put in charge of a federally funded task force to stop drug trafficking at it's source. He focuses his investigation on who ever is supplying Blue Magic, the heroin his ex- partner over dosed on. At one point in the film the question of capitalism comes up again, when Roberts questions if the authorities really want the drug trade stopped. If they did it would put an awful lot of people out of work, including himself.

It is inevitable that the paths of these two men will cross but Crowe and Washington do not share a scene until the last 20 minutes of the film. In order to balance the film director Ridley Scott, cuts back and forth between the growth of the heroin trade and the ongoing police investigation.

The movie is careful to contrast the lives of both men. Lucas, a criminal, has strong family values. He surrounds himself with family. He takes his mother to church every Sunday. He is a patron to the citizens of Harlem, just like his former boss was. He does not indulge in his product nor does he spend his money on flash and bling. He wears Brooks Bros. suits and keeps a low profile. Roberts is a womanizer and while he won't take a bribe, he lies and cheats on his wife constantly. He never makes time for his son, and the only thing he is good at, is being a cop.

Crowe and Washington do superb work and are surrounded by a great supporting cast. Ted Levine as Crowe's boss (he has come a long way since Silence Of The Lambs). Josh Brolin as an NYPD narcotics officer on the take, Ruby Dee, nominated for an Oscar, as Washington's mother, Armand Assante as a Mafia don, Cuba Gooding Jr. as a Harlem gangster and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Henry Lucas, Frank's brother and right hand man.

Filmed in NYC the movie captures the grittiness and urban decay of the city, circa 1970, just as films made in that time period did. It has the look and feel of films such as Serpico and The Seven-Ups.

It's a gripping drama and a great companion piece to The French Connection and Goodfellas. In fact watching all three in a row would make a great triple-feature.

At the Movie House rating ***1/2 stars