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American Gangster
American Gangster Image
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Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 213 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe
  • Summary: Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas, the quiet driver for 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. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade and floods 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 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, which makes them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation in which only one of them can come out on top. (Universal)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    This is an engrossing story, told smoothly and well, and Russell Crowe's contribution is enormous.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    100
    Denzel Washington dazzles in his best screen performance to date as Frank Lucas.
  3. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Freer
    60
    An entertaining romp through familiar cop-and-crim cat-and-mousery, bolstered by strong star turns from Washington and Crowe. Still, it has neither the intelligence nor the grip to jump from the merely good to the truly great.

See all 38 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 106
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 106
  3. Negative: 12 out of 106
  1. ChristianS.
    10
    The movie is brilliant. Daniel was tremendous. Crowe was spectacular.The support characters were equally impressive. I love the movie. I won't mind watching it again.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. Hughie
    5
    Nothing all that special. Great actors in an ok film.
    • 1 of 2 users said yes
  3. Barry
    2
    Overrated crap like every other Drug dealing & gangster movie out there. Goodfella's, The Godfather and this..they're all the same. Take a tough guy who uses the same phrases in every other movie in the genre with the same references and plots and you get American Gangster. Nothing but a completely overrated movie that is reliant on gun's, drugs, sex, violence and 'backstabbing' Anyone who thinks this film is amazing or a masterpiece are bandwagon jumpers and extremely deluded. Don't feel pressured to falsely praise a film you deep down don't rate so much..be honest with yourself and don't follow the crowd.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 106 User Reviews

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