American Gangster

Play trailer

American Gangster

R

2007

2h 37m

Crime

Drama

Biography

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

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.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

Alonso Duralde

MSNBC

05/01/2008

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.

Go to Full Review

David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

02/12/2008

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.

Go to Full Review

Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

02/03/2008

B

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

Go to Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

06/11/2023

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.

Go to Full Review

Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

11/20/2022

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.

Go to Full Review

Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

11/20/2022

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.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Wayne

12/08/2024

Definitely worth watching

See more

Nick B

@NickBtheHorrorOG 4d

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

See more

Dominique E

@encisonico 6d

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

See more

R T

@RT80621076 Jul 28

Real score: 94 One of the best of Denzel’s

See more

Kimmo K

@Kimble98 Jul 12

Amazing performances especially from Denzel and Russell.

See more

Brayan G

@letsbereal4once Jul 9

What a movie! This is a classic a must watch nothing like a movie based on a true story. Definitely recommended!

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Ridley Scott

Director

Denzel Washington

Frank Lucas

Russell Crowe

Richie Roberts

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Huey Lucas

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Nicky Barnes

Josh Brolin

Detective Trupo

American Gangster: Official Clip - Don't Lie to Your Mother

1:52

American Gangster: Official Clip - Progress

2:59

American Gangster: Official Clip - The End For Frank

1:42

American Gangster: Official Clip - Heroin House Raid

2:45

American Gangster: Official Clip - Above the Mafia

1:52

American Gangster: Official Clip - Drive-By Shooting

1:49

American Gangster: Official Clip - Diluting the Brand

2:54

American Gangster: Official Clip - Somebody Or Nobody

2:00

American Gangster: Official Clip - The Right Thing To Do

2:26

American Gangster: Official Clip - Fed Up

2:08

View more videos

Gacy

17%

21%

Gacy

Watchlist

Find Me Guilty

63%

63%

Find Me Guilty

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Find Me Guilty

Black Mass

74%

68%

Black Mass

Watchlist

Ted Bundy

39%

45%

Ted Bundy

Watchlist

Wonderland

34%

66%

Wonderland

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Denzel Washington Coolest Lines Mashup

2:00

View more videos

View more photos

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)

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings