- Film Review
- Reviewed By Andrew Collins
-
4 out of 5
As this true-life New York crime saga (set between 1968 and 1974) evocatively unfolds, master director Ridley Scott makes "big" look easy. Denzel Washington brings a suave tranquillity to his role as emerging Harlem drugs lord Frank Lucas (all the better to explode into sudden violence), while, in parallel, Russell Crowe's honest New Jersey cop Richie Roberts juggles divorce, pariah status within a corrupt police department and, eventually, the logistics of bringing Lucas down. It's as if The Godfather, GoodFellas and Scarface met TV's The Wire: grand overstatement combined with procedural detail and junkie sleaze. Beyond Josh Brolin's poisonously bad cop, a fine supporting cast struggles to make any meaningful impact in the wake of a dominant Washington - not least in the poorly sketched female roles - and fidelity to events takes the dramatic sting out of an operatic climax. Nevertheless, this is still a classy crime fable that succeeds despite sidestepping the electric set pieces of such genre maestros as Martin Scorsese or Brian De Palma.
Plot Summary
Biographical crime drama starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Following the death of his mentor, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one distributor of heroin in the US by coming up with a unique new method of importing. But then he attracts the attention of dogged Newark detective Richie Roberts.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Frank Lucas
- Denzel Washington
- Richie Roberts
- Russell Crowe
- Mama Lucas
- Ruby Dee
- Huey Lucas
- Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Nicky Barnes
- Cuba Gooding Jr
- Detective Trupo
- Josh Brolin
- Lou Toback
- Ted Levine
- Dominic Cattano
- Armand Assante
- Javier J Rivera
- John Ortiz (1)
- Freddie Spearman
- John Hawkes
- Moses Jones
- RZA
- Laurie Roberts
- Carla Gugino
- Turner Lucas
- Common
- Stevie Lucas
- Tip Harris
- US Attorney
- Roger Bart
- Detective in morgue
- Norman Reedus
- Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson
- Clarence Williams III
- Charlie Williams
- Joe Morton
- Rossi
- Jon Polito
- Eva
- Lymari Nadal
- Nate
- Roger Guenveur Smith
- Tango
- Idris Elba
- Chinese general
- Ric Young
Crew
- Director
- Ridley Scott
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