American Gangster

2007: Ridley Scott, director; starring Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin, Armand Assante, John Ortiz, Ruby Dee. Strong performances carry this story of Harlem’s real-life Frank Lucas, who undercut the Mafia to dominate the New York City and New Jersey heroin trade in the early 1970s. Lucas imported the drug directly from Southeast Asia, using returning Vietnam War veterans as his conduit. One federal judge who was involved in the real-life story of Lucas and the DEA called the movie “1 percent reality and 99 percent fantasy,” a criticism echoed by many others, in particular law enforcement agents who are portrayed as corrupt bunglers.