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Another long movie, 2 hours and 38 minutes, and based on a true story. From Wikipedia: “Frank Lucas (born September 9, 1930 in Lenoir County, North Carolina) was a heroin dealer and organized crime boss in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in Southeast Asia. He organized the smuggling of heroin from Vietnam to the U.S. by using the coffins of dead American servicemen (“cadaver connection”)” In the film, Lucas is portrayed by Actor Denzel Washington. Lucas and his former competitor, Nicky Barnes, sat down with New York magazine’s Mark Jacobson recently for a historic conversation between men who have not spoken to each other in 30 years. The story has two underlying aspects: (1) the rise of an African-American drug lord who used the principal of buying in bulk and underselling the competition while providing a superior product. It is sad to see the money made on addiction of your own people who are socioeconomically deprived – particularly in the era of segregation. It also demonstrated the closeness of family and demonstrated that family can be your downfall regardless of how careful you may be. The other storyline revolves around an honest cop surrounded by crooked cops on the take from the other drug lords. While his dedication to his job and sheer honesty he loses his wife and child through divorce while he is a beat cop attending law school at night. In the end, justice prevails and our honest cop get the bad guy, cleans up the police department, and passes the bar exam. While the story doesn’t go further with the cops career after he passes the bar exam, a supertitle at the end tells us that he becomes a defense attorney and his first client is our bad guy, Frank Lucas, who is doing a 70 year prison term. Frank’s story is one of incongruities. On one side he is a sophisticated businessman stressing honesty, integrity, hard work, and family; and on the other side he could kill someone without flinching. It is truly a story of a homegrown American Gangster competing with the tradition and organization of the Mafia for the almighty dollar. It was sheer ingenuity how he established the drug connection with the Viet Nam drug producers, cutting out the middle men. Another 2 hour and 40 minute movie. This one is most likely in the running for oscars, probably more for the acting of both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, rather than a Best Movie. But look out for Russell Crowe getting the nod as well for his spectacular performance in the western remake, 3:10 to Yuma. I liked this move although I would have like to have seen a little more gratuitous violence in the style of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, since it was a gangster movie, but it’s still worth taking a look.