American Gangster

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American Gangster

R

2007

2h 37m

Crime

Drama

Biography

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

213 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Frank Lucas earns his living as a chauffeur to one of Harlem's leading mobsters. After his boss dies, Frank uses his own ingenuity and strict business code to become one of the inner city's most powerful crime bosses. Veteran cop Richie Roberts senses a change in the mob's power structure and looks for ways to bring his opponent to justice.

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Critics Consensus

American Gangster is a gritty and entertaining throwback to classic gangster films, with its lead performers firing on all cylinders.

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Alonso Duralde

MSNBC

May 1, 2008

2/5

Telling a true story doesn't excuse a filmmaker from making his movie stand out from the many others that have traversed similar ground.

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David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

Feb 12, 2008

4/5

Best of all, there are top-flight performances from both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe who create interesting, rounded characters out of potential clichés.

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Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

Feb 3, 2008

B

Scott's not interested in fireworks but small implosions of the soul and ego.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jun 11, 2023

Scott evokes the crime cinema of the seventies with his mix of gritty police thriller and sprawling crime epic (with a sprinkling of blaxploitation excess).... But its roots are equally in the rise-and-fall gangster thrillers of the eighties and nineties.

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

Nov 20, 2022

5/5

Despite having a personal connection to the story in this film, I also love this movie for the dialogue, performances (particularly Denzel's) and the music.

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Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

Nov 20, 2022

4/5

Very solid performances anchored by Denzel. I think they could have trimmed 15-20 minutes of the Russell Crowe storyline and it would have been a near perfect film.

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Wayne

Dec 8, 2024

Definitely worth watching

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Alejandro R

@AleAliAlea 6 hrs ago

Confused movie saved by remarkable performances. Frank Lucas and Det Roberts are not the foils the movie wants them to be. With that said, don’t understand what the direction this film took. Perhaps honest portrayals since neither character is hero, villain or antihero. Other than cop and criminal there is nothing that connects the two or at least the film fails to show it. Washington and Crowe are superb!

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Steve H

@RT38694750 Aug 26, 2026

True story. Good acting. Entertaining.

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J H

@UpstateNYThriller Aug 11, 2026

9/10 Watched in HS history class Story of Frank Lucas and his domination on NY and NJ crack cocaine against the mob

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Nick B

@NickBtheHorrorOG Aug 1, 2026

This reminds me of The Departred, except this focuses more on the criminal element, whereas The Departed seems to focus more on the undercover and/or dirty cop storyline. I was actually VERY surprised this was a Ridley Scott film, and not something done by Scorsese. Hell they even used the same parking lot from Goodfellas. I would realistically give this a 9.5/10, but since its a 0-5 scale, I'm all in a at 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Dominique E

@encisonico Jul 30, 2026

Not the best mobster/gangster story but well worth the watch. I enjoyed it. Any mobster fanatic like myself would appreciate it

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Ridley Scott

Director

Denzel Washington

Frank Lucas

Russell Crowe

Richie Roberts

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Huey Lucas

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Nicky Barnes

Josh Brolin

Detective Trupo

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Synopsis

Frank Lucas earns his living as a chauffeur to one of Harlem's leading mobsters. After his boss dies, Frank uses his own ingenuity and strict business code to become one of the inner city's most powerful crime bosses. Veteran cop Richie Roberts senses a change in the mob's power structure and looks for ways to bring his opponent to justice.

Director: Ridley Scott
Producer: Brian Grazer, Dan Griffin
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Scott Free Productions
Rating: R (Nudity|Language|Pervasive Drug Content|Sexuality|Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 2, 2007, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 13, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $130.1M
Runtime: 2h 37m
Sound Mix: SDDS, DTS, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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