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American Gangster

year 2007decade 00sdirector Ridley Scottgenre Biographical crime drama

157 minutes

IMDb
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Denzel Washington Frank Lucas
Russell Crowe Richie Roberts
Josh Brolin Detective Nick Trupo
Chiwetel Ejiofor Huey Lucas
Ruby Dee Mahalee Lucas
Armand Assante Dominic Cattano
Carla Gugino Laurie Roberts
Cuba Gooding Jr. Nicky Barnes
Ted Levine Lou Toback
Idris Elba Tango
John Hawkes Freddie Spearman
John Ortiz Javier J. Rivera
RZA Moses Jones
Yul Vazquez Alfonse Abruzzo
Joe Morton Charlie Williams
Common Turner Lucas
Tip Harris Stevie Lucas
Ritchie Coster Joey Sadano
Jon Polito Rossi
Kevin Corrigan Campizi
Malcolm Goodwin Jimmy Zee
Ric Young Khun Sa
Roger Bart U.S. Attorney
KaDee Strickland Richie's attorney
Norman Reedus Detective Norman Reilly
Melissia Hill Redtop
Robert Funaro McCann
Clarence Williams III Bumpy Johnson

American Gangster | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeckproducer Ronak Nairproducer Chia Hao Tat
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

Frank killing Tango is the most replayed scene; the final Frank-Richie interview is a favorite, with many other sequences nominated

In the discussion (26)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:09Read transcript
  • The opening, with Frank setting a man on fire and shooting him, is nominated
  • Richie and Javier debating whether to turn in $987,000 is nominated
  • Richie screaming during his custody dispute is nominated
  • Frank’s Bangkok and Golden Triangle trip is nominated as material that could sustain a whole film
  • Jake’s unraveling, corpse transport, and leap from a moving vehicle are nominated
  • The Blue Magic manufacturing montage is nominated
  • Richie’s courtroom work and kitchen encounter with his lawyer are nominated
  • Frank killing Tango is the scene said to live on beyond the film
  • Stringer Bell’s death in The Wire is preferred as Idris Elba’s best screen death
  • The family audience and Tango’s refusal to pay are debated as reasons Frank shoots him
  • Richie reclaiming the seized money from Trupo is nominated
  • Frank’s party outburst and piano assault are nominated
  • Stevie choosing Frank’s life over baseball is praised for Frank’s conflicted reaction
  • The Ali-Frazier event is nominated but criticized for its impersonators and brevity
  • Trupo ruining Frank’s wedding day is nominated
  • Frank selling Blue Magic to Nicky Barnes is nominated and Cuba Gooding Jr.’s controlled performance is praised
  • The plane and coffin search is nominated
  • The final police shootout and naked gunfight are nominated
  • Frank leaving church into a mass arrest is nominated
  • The final Frank-Richie interrogation is nominated
  • Trupo’s suicide is nominated
  • Frank killing Tango is selected as the most rewatched scene
  • The final Frank-Richie interview is selected as a favorite scene
  • Frank bringing his family to Harlem is selected as the most important scene
  • Every Denzel Washington and Armand Assante exchange is praised
  • The Bangkok material is producer Craig’s choice

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Jay-Z making an American Gangster concept album after a screening wins

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:59Read transcript
  • T.I. and Common appearing as up-and-coming actors is proposed
  • Jay-Z creating an American Gangster album after a screening is selected as the most 2007 event

What’s Aged the Best?

Production design, capitalism themes, Denzel’s new career era, historical texture, and the film’s aphorisms have aged well

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:00Read transcript
  • Arthur Max’s layered production design and set dressing have aged well
  • The script’s connection between corner-store economics and buying direct from manufacturers has aged well
  • The film’s treatment of capitalism as more central than crime has aged well
  • The drug-packing montage has aged well
  • The film is identified as the start of Denzel Washington’s self-directed elder-star era
  • A character named Bumpy is treated as an immediate sign of a compelling gangster story
  • The Vietnam addiction and smuggling context is praised as material worthy of more screen time
  • Shooting 360 scenes across 180 locations is praised
  • Ted Levine’s presence has aged well
  • Trupo’s reaction after his car explodes has aged well
  • Frank pouring sugar in his coffee as a bodyguard signal has aged well
  • John Ortiz’s run from Miami Vice through Public Enemies is praised
  • Five Frank Lucas aphorisms are highlighted as durable lines
  • The post-meeting golf aside by Trupo’s crew is praised

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

The richly dressed drug-packing apartment tableau wins, with the church reveal also nominated

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:36Read transcript
  • The drug-packing apartment shot is selected for the depth and coherence of its props
  • The slow reveal of Richie waiting for Frank outside church is also nominated

The Slow Ride / Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop

Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” at Frank’s release is preferred

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:28Read transcript
  • “Across 110th Street” is nominated
  • “Amazing Grace” during the mass arrest is nominated
  • Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” during Frank’s release is selected
  • Retroactively adding Jay-Z songs is proposed, then rejected because it would break the period setting

Did This Movie Need a Random Sports Scene?

Yes; Billy Martin watching Stevie Lucas pitch and an Ali-Frazier round are proposed

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:53Read transcript
  • Harry Dean Stanton as Billy Martin watching Stevie Lucas pitch is proposed
  • An actual round of the Ali-Frazier fight is proposed
  • Pickup basketball or golf with the cops are noted as other missing sports possibilities

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The movie’s extensive historical fabrication is the weak link

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:47Read transcript
  • Frank Lucas is said to have been less sophisticated than the film portrays
  • Richie Roberts’s child and much of his domestic story are described as fabricated
  • A federal judge is reported to have called the film one percent reality
  • The Golden Triangle and cadaver-smuggling claims are described as disputed or false

What’s Aged the Worst?

Poor athlete doubles, historical inaccuracies, Armand Assante concerns, the title, and an excessively racist prosecutor scene have aged poorly

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:56Read transcript
  • The Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier doubles have aged poorly
  • The Wilt Chamberlain double is also criticized
  • Joe Morton’s stylized mustache is criticized, though the real subject may have worn it
  • Armand Assante playing the Italian mob boss is initially criticized on mistaken ethnicity grounds
  • Research establishing Assante’s Italian and Irish ancestry retracts that objection
  • The romance between Frank and Eva is judged underdeveloped
  • Blue Magic is proposed as a better title than American Gangster
  • No-knock warrants have aged poorly
  • The prosecutor’s racist dialogue during the coffin search is criticized as excessive and dramatically crude

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Josh Brolin’s post-film career and alternate-director arguments drive three hot takes

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:26Read transcript
  • Josh Brolin is argued to have had the best post-American Gangster career in the cast
  • Ridley Scott is argued to have prevented the material from becoming a classic
  • David Fincher is preferred for a Golden Triangle version and Brian De Palma for a New York crime version
  • Michael Mann is argued to have been capable of making this his second-best film after Heat

Casting What-Ifs

James Gandolfini as Trupo is the standout what-if, with Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, and Eddie Murphy also mentioned

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:55Read transcript
  • James Gandolfini reportedly declined Trupo and is judged an excellent hypothetical choice
  • Ray Liotta is mentioned as an earlier Richie possibility
  • Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy are mentioned as having had some connection to development

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers budget penalties, gifts, real-world family connections, locations, and a Godfather Part III idea

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:11Read transcript
  • Brian Grazer and Ridley Scott reportedly returned three million dollars after overrunning the budget
  • The BET series American Gangster is noted as predating the movie
  • Russell Crowe reportedly gave RZA a mint 1961 Gretsch guitar and they remained friends
  • Frank Lucas’s real driver is identified as Sean Combs’s father, who was killed when Combs was two
  • The production used parts of upper Manhattan that could still pass for 1970s New York
  • Francis Ford Coppola reportedly considered a Frank Lucas-like character for The Godfather Part III

Apex Mountain

The film peaks for sprawling, disjointed gangster films and drug-kingpin biopics; many people and subjects are debated

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:40:44Read transcript
  • Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, and Ridley Scott are rejected as apex choices
  • Sprawling, disjointed gangster films are assigned an apex
  • John Ortiz is discussed as near an apex performance
  • John Hawkes is judged not yet at his apex
  • Harlem films are rejected, with Mo’ Better Blues preferred
  • Miami Vice is selected for the Golden Triangle on screen
  • Josh Brolin is rejected because No Country for Old Men released the same year
  • Lymari Nadal is assigned her apex as Frank’s wife
  • Bad portrayals of 1960s and 1970s athletes are assigned an apex
  • Real drug-kingpin biopics are assigned an apex, with Blow and Paid in Full as comparators

Cruise or Hanks?

Tom Hanks wins for Richie Roberts; Martin Scorsese and Philip Seymour Hoffman are also chosen

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:06Read transcript

Picking Nits

Frank’s market position, lack of consequences, unclear chronology, family awareness, and fabricated epilogue are challenged

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:44Read transcript
  • Frank’s superior direct supply should have let him eliminate Harlem competition
  • Territory and distribution relationships are offered as constraints on expansion
  • Frank faces no repercussions for shooting Tango in public
  • Harlem loyalty is offered as an explanation for the silence
  • Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are shown together before their real relationship and before Keaton was well known
  • The chronology is too unclear about whether scenes are weeks or years apart
  • Frank’s mother knowing he sells drugs is criticized as disconnected from the movie’s reality
  • The closing-title claims are mocked for extending the film’s fabrications

Is This Movie Better With…?

A faux Bob Costas-style narration is selected from an expanded list

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:50:38Read transcript
  • The candidate list includes Wayne Jenkins, Danny Trejo, Mad Dog Russo, Doris Burke, Samuel L. Jackson, Nora Byer, Tony Romo, Chris Collinsworth, Daniel Plainview, Longlegs, Bangkok Craig, and Wilford Brimley
  • A mock historical-sports narration about Frank and Blue Magic is performed as the choice

Just One Oscar

Arthur Max’s art direction is selected over Harris Savides’s cinematography

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:51:15Read transcript
  • Harris Savides’s cinematography is proposed
  • Arthur Max’s art direction is selected because it received the film’s nomination

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Questions cover absent actors, Denzel’s persona, ideal length, Trupo, Frank’s wife, and Stevie’s Yankees path

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:51:57Read transcript
  • How Mark Ruffalo missed the large ensemble is asked
  • Whether this performance created Jay Pharoah’s Denzel Washington impression is asked
  • The maximum acceptable length is debated; one participant would watch a six-hour event
  • More Vietnam, Jake, Stevie, and Frank-fall material is requested
  • Trupo’s home life and golf club are questioned
  • Whether Frank’s wife set him up by insisting on the fur coat is debated
  • The unexplained fake beard is raised as evidence of missing connective material
  • Whether Stevie could plausibly go from the street to the Yankees in 1974 is questioned

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Frank’s Ali-fight outfit and hat lead several choices

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:55:33Read transcript
  • The bloodied piano is proposed
  • Frank’s old brown suitcase is proposed
  • Frank’s Ali-fight outfit and hat are selected as the most iconic choice
  • Trupo’s leather coat and car are proposed

Best Double Feature

The French Connection is preferred, while Blow is added late

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:56:06Read transcript
  • The French Connection is selected as the best pairing and described as a narrative precursor
  • Virtuosity is proposed for an earlier Crow-Washington pairing
  • Ricochet prompts a tangent but is not selected
  • Blow is added as another preferred pairing

More from the conversation

Opening advertisements and an anniversary retrospective lead into explicit introductions of Chris Ryan and Van Lathan.
Approx. transcript time · 00:00:00Read transcript
The hosts explain their changing relationship to the film, its dense structure, and possible alternative emphasis on Frank, Richie, Trupo, or the Golden Triangle.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:23Read transcript
The conversation surveys Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, the large supporting cast, and the project’s long development history.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:20Read transcript
The hosts discuss Steve Zaillian and Ridley Scott’s careers, drug-biopic constraints, television comparisons, box office, Oscar backlash, and Roger Ebert’s review.
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:48Read transcript
Pure Michigan and Wells Fargo advertisements interrupt the category sequence.
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:57Read transcript
A long Ringer Las Vegas gambling anecdote follows the film’s aphorisms.
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:38Read transcript
The closing producer reaction praises the pace but calls the movie a Pro Bowler rather than an All-Pro because its character arcs remain limited.
Approx. transcript time · 01:57:31Read transcript