To be honest, this is another film that primarily I wanted to see because I have a thing for Russell Crowe. However, Ridley Scott is also one of my favourite directors. American Gangster was an absorbing film. I could write for hours about it but I will just touch upon why it's so worth watching.

A dishevelled cop, Richie Roberts, obsessed with keeping to the rules as a crime fighter and yet one who makes a mockery of morality in his own private life is a character who fits Crowe like a glove. His nemesis, Frank Lucas, played by the self contained, lean and immaculate Denzel Washington, lives the legitimate life of a successful businessman who adheres to the American dream and holds dear the values of home and family. Yet, this self made gentleman imports drugs from Vietnam and is a murderer. These two actors are the antithesis of each other in the film both physically and as characters that they are both utterly absorbing to watch for very different reasons. It is only at the end of the film that their differences become less clear cut and all this is done by visual more so than verbal cues. Note the importance paid to clothing.

The script is sharp and delivers some memorable quotes and I’ll never forget Frank Lucas’ words after he has just killed a man: ‘there are two kinds of people in this world, you are either a somebody or a nobody’. However, the film does not just focus on individuals but cleverly highlights the social and political concerns of the day, which give rise to Frank Lucas, a black man, as an influential narcotics dealer in an arena previously dominated by the Italian mafia.

It also depicts the unwholesome aspects of New York as a metropolis and the characters who least gain sympathy in this film are the cops who take bribes from the criminal underworld and who use their hypocritical powers to subvert the law for their own gains.

If it were not for the well written script, eye for cinematic detail, good acting and editing then this film might fall into the cliché of good cop fighting gang boss and bad cop scenario. However, it’s all the more poignant because it is based on a true story. I cannot say how it fares compared to other great gangster classics, but if there’s any fan of the genre who could, please let me know.