American Gangster is a 2007 crime film by director Ridley Scott about the true story of notorious Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as detective Richie Roberts who is trying to bring him down, the film received mixed reviews but went on to be a commercial success, bringing in almost $300 million worldwide.

• Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 76%, Certified Fresh, "a gritty and entertaining throwback to classic gangster films, with its lead performers firing on all cylinders."

• Meta Critic Metascore: 76 out of 100, "It has the aspirations of an epic of crime and punishment, a superb feel for time and milieu, and an almost subliminal feel for myth."

• The Hollywood Reporter: American Gangster Review
  • "The movie is smooth and smart enough to attract a significant audience beyond the considerable fan base of its stars, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe."

• Variety: American Gangster Review
  • "With so many elements going for it, this big, fat Universal release is absorbing, exciting at times and undeniably entertaining, and is poised to be a major commercial hit. But great it's not."

• Rolling Stone: American Gangster Review (3.5/4)
  • "One hell of an exciting movie... American Gangster is already looking like a major awards contender."

• Entertainment Weekly: American Gangster Review (Grade: B)
  • "Meticulous and detailed, a drug-world epic that holds you from moment to moment, immersing you in the intricate and sleazy logistics of crime. Yet the movie isn't quite enthralling; it's more like the ghost version of a '70s classic."

• The Village Voice: American Gangster Review
  • "Ridley Scott's portrait of '70s dope visionary Frank Lucas may not be epic, but it's still super-fly."

• Slant Magazine: American Gangster Review (1/4)
  • "Not only is American Gangster dumb as a rock, but it's also far too convinced of its import to be any fun."

• Cinema Blend: American Gangster Review
  • "Two and a half hours is a bit excessive for a film that's barely better than a mildly acceptable diversion."

• Salon.com: American Gangster Review
  • ""American Gangster" offers only the stingiest platform for its actors, and as a piece of storytelling -- built on the foundation of a great story -- it's an epic that's been sliced and diced into so many little morsels that almost nothing in it has any weight."

• New York Press: American Gangster Review
  • "American Gangster's simultaneous celebration of crime, punishment and upward mobility should be titled Cry Capitalism. That's the code of the new Western."