American Gangster (2007)

American Gangster rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.8/10· 483K votes

Rotten Tomatoes81%

Metacritic76%

TMDb7.592/10· 6K votes

With 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.8/10 on IMDb and 76/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About American Gangster

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

Cast of American Gangster

• 

  Denzel Washington

  as Frank Lucas

• 

  Russell Crowe

  as Richie Roberts

• 

  Josh Brolin

  as Detective Trupo

• 

  Chiwetel Ejiofor

  as Huey Lucas

• 

  Cuba Gooding Jr.

  as Nicky Barnes

• 

  Lymari Nadal

  as Eva

• 

  Ted Levine

  as Lou Toback

• 

  Armand Assante

  as Dominic Cattano

• 

  John Ortiz

  as Javier J. Rivera

• 

  John Hawkes

  as Freddie Spearman

• 

  RZA

  as Moses Jones

• 

  Yul Vazquez

  as Alfonso Abruzzo

American Gangster facts

Budget

$100M

Box office

$269.8M

Our take on American Gangster

Ridley Scott's 2007 crime drama draws loosely on the career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States aboard American service planes returning from Vietnam, until a task force led by Newark detective Richie Roberts closed in. Scott builds a patient, period-rich portrait of parallel lives, cutting between the criminal's disciplined rise and the dogged investigator on his trail. The pace is measured and the mood absorbing, favouring texture and character over constant spectacle. It suits viewers who appreciate expansive, morally shaded crime epics rooted in the 1970s, and who value a story that treats both the hunter and the hunted seriously.