American Gangster

Frank Lucas, a charismatic and cunning gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, rises to the top of the Harlem underworld in the 1970s. Lucas's journey to prominence is marked by his audacity, strategic thinking, and a vision to revolutionize the lucrative heroin trade in the United States. The film 'American Gangster' is loosely based on the life of this notorious figure, whose exploits have become etched in the history of American crime. At the onset of the film, we meet Frank Lucas as a struggling numbers runner, who earns the respect of Harlem's powerful gangsters while rubbing elbows with aspiring crime lords. After observing the profitable heroin trade operated by Italian Mafia and street gangs, Lucas is determined to adapt his own business model, gaining leverage over suppliers and forging connections with local authorities. Upon his release from federal prison in 1968, Frank relocates to Harlem, and quickly makes connections with key players in the neighborhood's underworld. He marries Scarlett Levy, a young Puerto Rican woman, and ultimately befriends Leon Lewis, a respected but troubled gangster, who will eventually serve as his business partner. Under the impression that the high-quality heroin derived from the Golden Triangle region is too expensive, Lucas sets out on a mission to seek an alternative supplier that would provide quality, affordable heroin. A visit to the Philippines forms a strategic connection with Puerto Rican and Chinese networks. By supplying heroin to the U.S. army while on leave from the Vietnam War, Lucas gains a significant advantage over his competitors. The quality is excellent, given Lucas's diligence to test his products always before packing it on his suit in its wrapped, as-black-as-coal cigs, and he decides that his competition would be doomed. Lucas's gang eventually becomes a force to be reckoned with, with ruthless tactics employed to eliminate competition and maintain his grip on the city's heroin trade. Despite this dark reputation, his charisma, business acumen, and ability to charm high-profile clientele maintain his spot among Harlem's elite. They rebrand as 'Blue Magic' a name Frank believed could change the whole way drug could be ordered, purchased, packaged with no further connections to the dreadful foreign name. As Lucas grows more powerful and flamboyant, entering suits made from gold-plated threads and flaunting his blue magic on a huge and flashy diamond studded hand carved, his rise to super fame prompts notoriety and, inevitable tension. His associates grow wary as he weaves fragile connections between gang members, eventually incurring the wrath of detectives tasked with cracking the complex case and eroding Lucas's base. In New Jersey, a grueling determination is felt by Detective Richie Roberts, a determined but aging and relatively unnoticed detective who, supported by his team finds the resources to tackle the seemingly impossible job. Unflappably driven to detail and grit, Roberts is well beyond the levels of what makes all New York crime sleuth feel ashamed from neglecting his New Jersey counterpart. For that reason as well, many have a feeling based not just evidence of this possible revenge. Roberts, along with his dogged determination, drives the crusade against Lucas through exhaustive interrogations, careful analysis, and diligent follow-up on a multitude of tips that turn this otherwise impossible puzzle into almost impossible task of breaking down walls of Lucas's immense cover. He slowly uncovers an airtight paper trail culminating into evidence that leads him to one irreplaceable symbol for the elusive gangster: a man named Frank Lucas has never ever hidden. In a dramatic confrontation at Lucas's lavish mansion, David Faison appears to be with Frank, presenting the evidence of Roberts's aggressive, painstaking detective work that will define the end of his empire. Given no choice, Lucas is arrested amidst a blaze of colorfully adorned women clambering around his mansion, each one waiting anxiously for the arrival of the famous gangster husband. Lucas found himself soon faced with prison, and it was clear that his influential status, coupled with his ability to identify far more powerful persons by whom he was supported at every step significantly lessened what would have been inevitable during early days had his case likely involved serious charges. These charges should otherwise bring over him sentence like those before infamous men following that case.