Lucas is a vehement criminal enigma capable of horrendous cruelty and violence while simultaneously being an ardent family man and pseudo philanthropist.

Visceral, poignant, and perhaps far overdue, director Ridley Scott’s new film “American Gangster” (2007) takes viscous aim at the glamorization of violent street life and gangster culture in America. Adapted from the “New York” magazine article “The Return of Superfly,” the film presents the true account of one man’s disturbing American success story.

Set in New York City during the final years of the Vietnam War, Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas, driver and protégé of the notorious real-life Harlem gangster Ellsworth ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, played briefly by Clarence Williams III. Coincidentally, Williams also starred in “Hoodlum” (1997) featuring Laurence Fishburne as a young Johnson during his own rise to power in Harlem during the 1930s.

When Johnson dies suddenly, leaving the balance of power in question, Lucas takes the opportunity to seize control. He finances himself with the lucrative heroin trade.

By consulting the suppliers in southeast Asia personally with the help of friend in the armed forces, Lucas cuts out mafia middle men and corrupt law enforcement officials by transporting the drugs directly to the US in the returning coffins of dead American soldiers.

Following the ensuing drug epidemic is stubbornly noble New Jersey narcotics detective Richie Roberts, played in a bit of a stretch by Russell Crowe. At the heart of the film is the two men’s dichotomous, and at times ambiguous, relationship.

Lucas is a vehement criminal enigma capable of horrendous cruelty and violence while simultaneously being an ardent family man and pseudo-philanthropist. Roberts is a professional pariah due to his unquestioning adherence to duty and honesty at the expense of criminally neglecting his wife and son.

Both Washington and Crowe give outstanding performances that transcend traditional expectations, giving the film a refreshingly new take on the genre. Josh Brolin gives a flawlessly sinister effort as a corrupt Special Investigations Unit detective equally responsible for NYC’s drug problem. Even Cuba Gooding Jr. delivers a halfway believable shot as Lucas’ tough and flamboyant competitor for the Harlem drug trade. At nearly every turn, director Scott turns the very routine into something quite astonishing and grandiose.

Truly a different breed of gangster film, the lavish and luxurious life of Lucas is never more than two steps away from the horribly destitute and desperate lives of the addicts he consequently supplies. Pervasively graphic portraits of heroin abuse and its effects provide a horrific visual price tag for the extravagance of Lucas’ empire.

The film is, at its center, a welcome indictment of American criminal romanticism. While Lucas’ customers are seen suffering and overdosing in squalor, some leaving behind neglected infant children, Lucas is shown screaming at a servant for improperly removing a blood stain from a $25,000 rug.

As Lucas hosts a hallmark quality Christmas dinner for family on the finest china, Roberts makes a modest sandwich alone in a small, dirty apartment. The film continually strips down the fiction from the fact all the way up to its wholly unconventional ending.

Lucas’ inherent contradictions of character provide some of the film’s most provocative messages. Ironically, he appears at his most threatening when discussing legitimate business ethics like copyright infringement, wholesaling, product quality and competition with a disturbingly civilized restraint. At times, Lucas appears as a charming and dignified businessman.

Featuring the surprising acting graces of hip hop stars RZA, Common, and T.I., one also can’t help but connect Lucas’ passionately outspoken condemnation of criminal vanity and glorified myth with that which is so ubiquitously found in modern gangsta rap. The world Lucas constructs for himself is anything but glamorous.

However, despite the film’s perceived timely message, Scott uniquely brings the 1970s alive onscreen. Filmed on location in NYC and Thailand, Scott brings the same incessant attention to detail that made “Gladiator” (2000), “Black Hawk Down” (2001), and “Blade Runner” (1982) so visually distinctive.

Often the main characters appear to be in competition with the lush and vibrant period surroundings swarming with life and action. The bustling city scenes set in Harlem and Bangkok are absolutely stunning.

“American Gangster” rarely adheres to conventional standards. The only crime cliché present is Lucas and Roberts’ inherent similarities. Lucas embodies the American progressive juggernaut; Roberts its good intentioned, yet morally ambivalent soul. Together, the two men defy the status quo, ushering in an unstoppable new dawn for a country, for better or worse, on the streets of the city that never sleeps.

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