19 Years Later, Ridley Scott’s 10/10 Detective Thriller Just Keeps Getting Better With Age

In Ridley Scott’s new post-apocalyptic film, The Dog Stars, the misanthropic former marine Bangley (Josh Brolin) explains to his partner Hig (Jacob Elordi) that they’re basically living the American dream. They have everything they need on the airstrip where they live, even if most of humanity has been wiped out by a virus and they have to regularly shoot desperate invaders. Bangley warns Hig against wanting anything more.

Nineteen years ago, Scott made a very different movie with Brolin about the American dream, a story that’s even darker because it’s based on real history rather than science fiction. American Gangster follows the rise and fall of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), who used the Vietnam War to make a fortune smuggling heroin into the U.S. It’s a crime epic in the vein of The Godfather or The Wire, anchored by one of the best performances Washington has ever given.

Lucas begins his criminal career as the driver for Harlem mob boss Bumpy Johnson. In a monologue he gives to his younger brothers while recruiting them to leave North Carolina and join his growing drug empire, Lucas explains that Bumpy wasn’t really his own boss because he was beholden to drug suppliers. By going directly to the source — buying heroin made in Thailand and bringing it to the U.S. on war transports — Lucas is able to deliver higher quality drugs at a lower cost.

The daring move upsets all the existing power structures, even if they constantly underestimate Lucas because they assume a Black man must have a white boss. His rise happens in sync with that of Muhammad Ali, symbolic of a broader shift in American culture. Lucas even scores great seats at the Fight of the Century, which finally makes the police acknowledge he’s a real power in the criminal underworld.

Scott is known for his focused visuals, and he zooms in on Washington as an icy cool figure in a chaotic world. Lucas has the calculating calm of a sociopath, but he drips with contempt when dealing with rival gangsters like Nicky Barnes (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Tango (Idris Elba). He dresses simply, and even disguises himself at times to observe operations incognito. He’s viciously critical of his brother Huey (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who wants to flaunt his newfound wealth.

Lucas reserves his greatest ire for Detective Nick Trupo (Brolin), a corrupt cop who harasses Lucas and drives a luxury car. There is a constant threat of violence in their interactions, which are some of the tensest moments in the film. In one of American Gangster‘s most memorable scenes, Trupo and his officers destroy a dresser Lucas had specially built for his mother to replace a version she lost when he was a child. The gift was a metaphor for the family’s rise out of poverty and Lucas’ ambitions to give his mother what he felt she deserved. Its destruction symbolizes their downfall as his power begins to crumble, with Lucas’ family winding up even worse than they were before.

American Gangster is more like The Godfather than The Wire

Photo: Universal/Everett Collection

It’s easy to become entranced by the methodical confidence Washington brings to his role, but Scott never shies away from demonstrating the evil that Lucas’ empire is built on. Scenes of him enjoying himself at his club are juxtaposed with brutal sequences of intravenous drug use, including a woman overdosing next to her screaming baby. Lucas profits off the horrors of war and the misery of veterans who become addicted abroad to bring even more death home.

Scott and screenwriter Steven Zaillian are far better at replicating the dark character portrait of The Godfather than the intricate crime drama of The Wire. A parallel plotline in which squeaky clean Newark cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) tries desperately to figure out who’s behind the city’s drug trade can’t match the story of Lucas’ rise and fall, especially when the movie gets distracted by Richie’s messy but unexciting personal life.

Scott is known as a master of action epics like Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, but American Gangster shows his versatility with a more personal, contained story. It has some of his trademarks like morally gray protagonists, dramatic cityscapes, and sudden bursts of violence, and much of the understated character development that The Dog Stars relies on. Fans of Scott’s work can plan a double feature for the weekend and see how his views on what the American dream means have evolved over nearly two decades.

American Gangster is streaming on Starz and available to rent on Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play.