Guest Blogger: Ryan E.

Frank Lucas, now notorious drug dealer, is portrayed in the movie American Gangster. Played by Denzel Washington, this character’s life is shown from beginning until almost the end of it. The story is told from two points of view throughout the movie; one is Lucas’ view, the other is detective Richie Roberts. Roberts is part of the New York Police Department and shows incredible courage throughout the movie. He pursues Lucas for a very long time and has to avoid being killed, injured, or bribed. Lucas, coming up from a poor and very large family, learns he has to take things into his own hands if he wants to succeed and become rich – which is his ultimate goal. He devises the greatest drug dealing plan possible. Cut out the middle man and sell a more pure product for a lower price than the competition. As Lucas puts it, “you sell a product better than the competition for a price lower than the competition.” Both Lucas and Richie are intelligent, witty, and carry a lot of charisma in the movie. Richie is dealing with problems with his wife (they both aren’t very loyal to one another), while Lucas is struggling to keep his drug dealing empire underneath the NYPD, and above the competition. It is a very long movie, rolling for 158 minutes. I saw it in theatres and it stuck in my mind as a modern Scarface. They are very comparable movies and I would say they are about equal in entertainment value. It was worth the $8 I spent, due to the length and great plot it shows. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s interesting to say the least. Check out American Gangster some night when you feel like renting a movie, you won’t regret it.