Washington reveals Lucas in the details—the way he stirs sugar into his coffee, the way Lucas always looks sharp, but never flashy. When someone angers him, he approaches them coolly. “My man,” he says smiling. Then he does something violent. Washington always keeps flickers of the violence he is capable of simmering just below the surface.

Though strangely, for most of the movie you almost don’t know whether to like him or hate him. Lucas is part loving family man, part ruthless mobster. He can kill a man in cold-blood in broad daylight in the middle of the street, or smash a man’s skull in a grand piano in the middle of a party. But we also see him buy his mother (Ruby Dee) a house, take care of his brothers, cherish his wife and give back to the community.

Crowe brings out Roberts’ very different personality through some opposite qualities. There’s something in his eyes—the longing to do good; to make someone proud, coupled with a glimmer of disappointment in himself. He’s a bit of a mess, not well-spoken or respected by his peers, but he has an understated intelligence. I liked the fact that Roberts always turned out to be surprisingly smarter than you expected. Crowe makes him into a worthy adversary for Lucas, a threat.

The film itself is a rock-solid two hours and forty minutes. Moments of punctuated suspense and action keep it from dragging. It feels complete, well-balanced, steadily paced—a satisfying cinematic meal. Director Ridley Scott transports you into this world, which can be alternately gritty and glamorous. While the promotional posters for the film are colored in black and white, the film shows that life is anything but. Scott shows the grey areas, the dichotomies, the moral ambiguities, the two sides to the coin. He shows Lucas’s wealth and status—how he owned clubs, mingled with celebrities, got to sit up front at boxing matches. And he also shows the negative side—the destructive power of the drugs Lucas was supplying, people dying from it, neglected children, the impoverished inner-city. Close attention to 1970’s period detail and an authentic soundtrack further capture the essence of the era.

Much like Frank Lucas' "Blue Magic", American Gangster is quite intoxicating. It sucks you in and doesn't let go.

Movie Grade: A

Synopsis:

Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver to one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. But when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade, flooding the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop ...