American Gangster Extended Edition [2007] - DVD movie

A slow burning, yet entirely gripping, mobster film, American Gangster pits Denzel Washington's Frank Lucas against Russell Crowe's law enforcer Richie Roberts. Spread over a necessarily prolonged running time, their story is then brutally, expertly, told. And while American Gangster isn't in the league of prime Scorsese and Coppolla classics , it's the nearest we've come in quite some time to something of that ilk. It's all based on a true story, which does mean you need to forgive it some of its obvious narrative conventions, yet this also lends it a gravitas that the film eagerly makes the most of. It's great too to see British director Ridley Scott tackling meatier material again....