"American Gangster" may be the first film about 1970s heroin kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and the cop (Russell Crowe) who took him down, but much of it feels familiar.

So many of the supporting players in this fact-based account have been featured in other movies that you could program a film festival.

Laurence Fishburne played Lucas' mentor, Bumpy Johnson, twice, in "The Cotton Club" and "Hoodlum." One of Lucas' rivals, Nicky Barnes, is the subject of a documentary, "Mr. Untouchable," released just last week. A group of corrupt New York City narcotics cops led by Josh Brolin was the inspiration for Sidney Lumet's "Prince of the City." These cops got rich by selling the heroin seized at the end of "The French Connection."

But the films that "American Gangster" director Ridley Scott refers to most often are "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part II."

As Washington plays him, Lucas is very much like Michael Corleone. None of Harlem's top crime lords figure that Lucas, Bumpy Johnson's (played here by "The Mod Squad's" Clarence Williams III) driver, will be a player after Johnson's death. But Lucas is the quiet man who sits in the corner and waits his chance. He is the observer who sees how things work and figures how to make them work better.

Lucas' brainstorm arrives while he watches a news story about the high-strength heroin laying out American servicemen in Vietnam. Lucas flies directly to Bangkok to make a deal directly with heroin growers in Southeast Asia, effectively guaranteeing a monopoly on the purest product and cutting out every middleman, particularly those in the Mafia.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey a cop named Richie Roberts (Crowe) learns that in a culture of corruption, his honesty may cut short his career. The crooked cops in his department consider him a threat, especially after her turns in a nearly $1 million payoff he could have pocketed.

Richie gets his own break when he is appointed to the Federal Narcotics Bureau. Like Elliot Ness in "The Untouchables," Richie gets to pick his own task force, and this sets him on a path toward bringing down Lucas.

But not immediately. "American Gangster" runs longer than two and a half hours, and its first half is an episodic portrait of each man. Many presumptions of the era are reversed. The black man lives in luxury and has the happy family life, while the white man lives in poverty and squabbles with his ex-wife (Carla Gugino). On Thanksgiving, Lucas presides over a Norman Rockwell feast, while Richie spreads Underwood ham on a cracker.

Sensitive to charges he may be glamorizing Lucas' life, Scott intercuts the Thanksgiving dinner with shots of Harlem junkies dying or ignoring their small children to make sure the audience knows what paid for the turkey.

Like "The Godfather," "American Gangster" draws parallels between organized crime and big business, although screenwriter Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List" and "Gangs of New York") is more explicit. Lucas sells his high-quality heroin under the name Blue Magic. When he discovers Barnes (played with restraint by Cuba Gooding Jr.) is selling a less potent version of the product, Lucas seethes. "Brand names mean something," he says. "Blue Magic, that's a brand name. Like Pepsi."

While Scott pays tribute to the many films that inspired "American Gangster," he also carves a new identity for it. This is a gritty 1970s thriller made for today, re-creating the past to find lessons for the present. Richie's honesty, diligence and commitment to due process win in the end.

"American Gangster" also gives Washington and Crowe a well-earned rematch, even if they don't meet until the final 15 minutes. The Oscar-winners have long deserved the chance to live down their previous pairing in 1995's "Virtuosity."

"American Gangster" might have been interesting with other stars, but the powerhouse presence of these Washington and Crowe - more talented than even their fame indicates - makes this thriller crackle. Add Scott's genius for visuals and drama, and you get a picture that will highlight any gangster film festival.