AMERICAN GANGSTER

AMERICAN GANGSTER stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in a thriller that tells a story about two men: a ruthless African American drug lord and the incorruptible narcotics cop who wants to put him behind bars.

The movie opens in 1968 in New York City. An elderly black gangster in Harlem suddenly dies. His long-time driver and protégé, Frank Lucas (played by Denzel Washington), hears on the news that one-third of American soldiers in Vietnam are using hard drugs. Frank contacts his ex-wife’s cousin, a soldier who runs a bar in Bangkok, Thailand. After borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars, he goes to Thailand. There, he and his in-law travel into the jungle to meet with the top heroin grower in Southeast Asia. Soon, Frank is running a high quality heroin operation in Harlem. His packets of heroin, which he calls Blue Magic, are more pure and cheaper than the competition, the Italian Mafia.

While Frank is setting up his operation, Richie Roberts (played by Russell Crowe), a Newark, New Jersey detective, is going to law school at night and working during the day. One day, he and his partner stumble upon nearly $1 million in illegal drug money. Richie convinces his partner to turn the money in, but their integrity gets them ostracized by the other policemen who don’t mind taking a little graft every now and then.

When President Nixon announces his new anti-drug policies, Richie is finally recognized for his integrity and charged with running Newark’s new special narcotics team. The team will be linked to the feds and will only track the big shipments.

It doesn’t take long for Richie to discover that Frank is an important heroin supplier, but then he is surprised to learn that Frank has become so big that the Italian Mafia works for him instead of the other way around. It will take everything for Richie to find a way to put Frank behind bars and clean up New Jersey and New York.

AMERICAN GANGSTER is a captivating look at one of the biggest drug and corruption busts in history, especially in the second half when the story takes some entertaining, unexpected twists and turns. Of course, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are equally mesmerizing in their respective performances, though Denzel may deliver the slightly better performance.

The good news is that both men like to do movies with strong moral worldviews, and they even like to put positive Christian content in their movies. AMERICAN GANGSTER is no exception, even though it is rated R for very strong foul language, some graphic violence, shots of explicit nudity, and a strong sex scene. Though the movie’s moral worldview is clear throughout in that it sides with the honest narcotics detective not the gangster or the corrupt New York police detectives, the strongest Christian content doesn’t come until the end when Richie is close to busting Frank’s whole operation. In one scene, the song “Amazing Grace” reminds Frank that even a wretch like him can be saved. The filmmakers apparently decided, however, that a conversion scene after this might be a bit too hokey or something.

Thus, MOVIEGUIDE® gives a strong extreme caution to AMERICAN GANGSTER. This is a gritty urban story that would never be appropriate for any but the most mature older teenagers. Even so, the movie’s edgier elements should still have been toned down to make it less problematic. Doing so would have strengthened the movie’s positive, somewhat inspirational ending.