Fall Movie Preview 2007

American Gangster
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe
OPENENING NOVEMBER 2nd

Oscar loves a big, juicy crime epic -- hello Godfather, hiya Departed -- and there's no resisting this true (enough) story of how Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) built a heroin empire in Harlem in the 1970s till supercop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) brought him down. Everybody brings their A game. After stumbling with A Good Year, Crowe and director Ridley Scott are back in gladiator form. And Washington gives a monumental performance, never missing a beat as Lucas moves from a pimped-out Superfly to a tycoon who runs his dirty game according to strict business ethics. This is strong stuff, with no pussyfooting around how race and class play into the killer instinct that drives corporate America.