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)
- 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
Richie’s lawyer asking him to have sex like a cop wins
In the discussion (2)
- The line contrasting sex like a cop with sex like a lawyer is selected
- The participants unpack the line through jokes about police authority and lawyers’ procedural caution
Jay-Z making an American Gangster concept album after a screening wins
In the discussion (2)
- 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
Production design, capitalism themes, Denzel’s new career era, historical texture, and the film’s aphorisms have aged well
In the discussion (14)
- 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 last shot’s homage to The Great Train Robbery is selected
In the discussion (1)
- The final direct-to-camera gunshot is identified as an homage to The Great Train Robbery
Frank pouring sugar into coffee wins
In the discussion (1)
- The sugar jar and coffee signal are selected
The richly dressed drug-packing apartment tableau wins, with the church reveal also nominated
In the discussion (2)
- 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
Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” at Frank’s release is preferred
In the discussion (4)
- “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
Icepick Paul leads Moses Jones, Bruiser, and several joke alternatives
In the discussion (4)
- Icepick Paul is selected
- Moses Jones is proposed
- Bruiser is proposed
- Bangkok Craig and Hard Shot Horlbeck are coined as joke alternatives
John Hawkes wins
In the discussion (1)
- John Hawkes is selected for repeatedly smoking cigarettes down to the filter
Yes; Billy Martin watching Stevie Lucas pitch and an Ali-Frazier round are proposed
In the discussion (3)
- 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 movie’s extensive historical fabrication is the weak link
In the discussion (4)
- 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
Poor athlete doubles, historical inaccuracies, Armand Assante concerns, the title, and an excessively racist prosecutor scene have aged poorly
In the discussion (9)
- 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
Denzel Washington wins for his explosive peaks
In the discussion (2)
- Carla, Trupo’s crooked-cop crew, and Denzel Washington are considered
- Denzel Washington is selected for the moments when Frank erupts, slaps people, and overturns objects
Josh Brolin’s post-film career and alternate-director arguments drive three hot takes
In the discussion (4)
- 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
James Gandolfini as Trupo is the standout what-if, with Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, and Eddie Murphy also mentioned
In the discussion (3)
- 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
Roger Guenveur Smith leads a deep field
In the discussion (6)
Cuba Gooding Jr. wins a long field
In the discussion (2)
Ray Liotta and Eva Mendes are proposed replacements
In the discussion (3)
- Ray Liotta is proposed for Dominic Cattano
- Ray Liotta as Trupo or Richie is preferred over casting him as the mob boss
- Eva Mendes is proposed as Frank’s wife
Armand Assante is criticized as excessively broad
In the discussion (1)
Richie’s divorce lawyer should have been fired
In the discussion (1)
- Richie’s divorce lawyer is selected for saying nothing in court, sleeping with her client, and failing to improve his custody case
Research covers budget penalties, gifts, real-world family connections, locations, and a Godfather Part III idea
In the discussion (6)
- 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
The film peaks for sprawling, disjointed gangster films and drug-kingpin biopics; many people and subjects are debated
In the discussion (10)
- 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
Tom Hanks wins for Richie Roberts; Martin Scorsese and Philip Seymour Hoffman are also chosen
In the discussion (7)
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei are treated as Hall of Fame figures
In the discussion (1)
Frank’s market position, lack of consequences, unclear chronology, family awareness, and fabricated epilogue are challenged
In the discussion (8)
- 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
A satirical all-white remake is cast
In the discussion (5)
- The usual all-Black-remake prompt is inverted into an all-white American Gangster
- Mark Ruffalo and Adam Scott are proposed, with Scott as Nicky Barnes
- Rob McElhenney is proposed as Tango and Tom Cruise as Frank
- Sally Field is proposed as Frank’s mother
- JJ Redick is proposed as Stevie, changing baseball to basketball
A faux Bob Costas-style narration is selected from an expanded list
In the discussion (2)
- 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
Arthur Max’s art direction is selected over Harris Savides’s cinematography
In the discussion (2)
- Harris Savides’s cinematography is proposed
- Arthur Max’s art direction is selected because it received the film’s nomination
Questions cover absent actors, Denzel’s persona, ideal length, Trupo, Frank’s wife, and Stevie’s Yankees path
In the discussion (8)
- 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
Frank’s Ali-fight outfit and hat lead several choices
In the discussion (4)
- 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
Quitting while ahead is not the same as quitting
In the discussion (1)
- “Quitting while you’re ahead is not the same as quitting” is selected by two participants
The French Connection is preferred, while Blow is added late
In the discussion (4)
- 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
Denzel Washington wins unanimously
In the discussion (1)
Most Rewatchable Scene
