American Gangster was about the real life story of Frank Lucas, a black man in the 60's and 70's who outdid the mafia by getting shipments of heroin straight from Southeast Asia and peddling it onto the streets of Harlem. On the other side is Richie Roberts, a good cop who attempts to take down both Frank Lucas, and the heavily crooked drug force working in New York at the time. The movie was fairly conventional, although it was well-made and well-acted. The ending was intriguing, but there was not much to dig beneath the surface, as the movie worked more as a biopic than a commentary. Taken together, American Gangster is a good movie, but not necessarily a must-see unless it particularly interests you.
A side-note is that today, I started watching The Wire, an unheralded but critically acclaimed HBO TV show that is entering it's final season. The show is a very slow developing crime drama based in inner-city Baltimore. Unlike American Gangster, the cops are a lot less resourced, and at times seemingly defeated, for a more realistic and humbling feel. It's not as easy as marching in to get the bad guys, since there is a lot more crime and politics than anyone bargained for.
A side-note is that today, I started watching The Wire, an unheralded but critically acclaimed HBO TV show that is entering it's final season. The show is a very slow developing crime drama based in inner-city Baltimore. Unlike American Gangster, the cops are a lot less resourced, and at times seemingly defeated, for a more realistic and humbling feel. It's not as easy as marching in to get the bad guys, since there is a lot more crime and politics than anyone bargained for.
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