The story opens with Frank Lucas burning a man alive followed by a neighborhood gangster giving away frozen turkeys for the holiday season. Its amazing how the world depicts a criminal who is in turn viewed by his family as a hero. Being able to buy what you want and excel... isn't that the American Dream? How you obtain those things isn't a part of the pretty picture. And one of Harlem's drug kingpins, Frank Lucas, is painting a picture all to familiar to those in ghettos and not surprisingly in suburbia.

The hustle of making money is formed and at first based on the survival of your family, usually the mother who is the only thing that holds it together in the black community. Once substantial or greater financial status is achieved that motivation now forms into power. Power makes things move more than money. But money and power combined demand respect. And when respect isn't given it is taken.

American Gangster starring Denzel Washington is based on the real life of Harlem drug dealer Frank Lucas. The films depiction of a kingpin who goes overseas and smuggles heroine back into the states using U.S. planes during the Vietnam war is poorly portrayed as the idea of an African American able to make those types of moves in a time of deadly racism should have played a more prevalent role than given. Even the dry backdrop of a tilted Fedora and pressed suit lacked the feel of Harlem. A mixture of today's Bronx and creased bell bottoms plagued the film leaving only a visual glimpse of what that era represented as well as what the street entrepreneur Frank Lucas accomplished although illegal Lucas proved that street hustlers are at times above and beyond the average businessman.

However, Washington and Crowe give great performances and are more believable as the Husband and father role than the crime Lord or superhero cop they depict. The focus on the film was more about how each pertinent character (Washington and Crowe) came to know each other and rose to their particular status instead of prominently on Lucas.

Still a must see if you want to know more about Frank Lucas. Fortunately for Hollywood there is always a chance to tell the story right as the recently bootlegged American Gangster can be remade.