Ridley Scott, Original Gangster

By Andre Ward
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/item/ridley_scott_american_gangster_20071027/
Acclaimed moviemaker Sir Ridley Scott has tackled the Crusades, rejuvenated sword-and-sandal epics and given us icy visions of a robotic future. Now the director turns his attention to a different kind of period piece in American Gangster, out in wide release from Universal Pictures on November 2. American Gangster chronicles the rise of New York heroin hustler Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) from drug apprentice to public superstar in the early 1970s, running a tight ship with a strict business ethic. Matched up against him is renegade cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), his home life in shambles, but refusing to partake in the corruption overwhelming the police department.