American GangsterMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 76 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    This is an engrossing story, told smoothly and well, and Russell Crowe's contribution is enormous. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    It has the aspirations of an epic of crime and punishment, a superb feel for time and milieu, and an almost subliminal feel for myth. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Finely made and richly satisfying film. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Call it the black "Scarface" or "the Harlem Godfather" or just one hell of an exciting movie. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The movie, based on a true story, takes surprising twists and turns right up to its chilling ending and is probably the best gangster crime drama of the year. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Absorbing, exciting at times and undeniably entertaining, and is poised to be a major commercial hit. But great it's not. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    It's workmanlike and engrossing, but what sticks in the mind are Frank and Richie, not what anybody does. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Ridley Scott gives it the grand treatment, 157 minutes worth, but in the end, it doesn't stack up as the portrait of an era (the 1970s, in this case) or an important tale of a criminal mastermind. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Meticulous and detailed, a drug-world epic that holds you from moment to moment, immersing you in the intricate and sleazy logistics of crime. Yet the movie isn't quite enthralling; it's more like the ghost version of a '70s classic. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Greatness hovers just outside American Gangster, knocking, angling to be let in. Read full review

View more reviews for American Gangster on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Violent, drug-fueled drama isn't for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this based-on-a-true story drama about a brutal 1970s gangster isn't for kids. He commits extremely violent acts, which are depicted explicitly (often with guns) and accompanied by blood, wounds, and groaning. And since the plot focuses on heroin smuggling and dealing, there are many shots of junkies and drug use (including needles in arms, cocaine being snorted, and more). Sexual content includes scenes with prostitutes, kissing, bare breasts, and cleavage, and there's plenty of language, including almost 100 uses of "f--k."
  • Families can talk about whether the movie glamorizes criminal behavior. How is Frank both villainous and attractive? How does the film compare and contrast him to Richie, who's upright on the job but not a good husband? Families can also discuss the fact that the movie is based on a true story. How accurate do you think it is? Why do filmmakers sometimes tweak the facts when they're making biopics or movies based on actual events?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Gangsters are cruel, cocky, and greedy; cops are earnest and honest to a fault. Their run-ins result in violence and, eventually, collaboration.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Several scenes show shooting, fighting, and tense stand-offs between men wielding large guns. An early scene shows the funeral of gangster's mentor, followed by vows of aggression against rivals. Clips of the Vietnam War appear on background TVs. Cops raid drug locations, with guns drawn and used. A man is thrown down the stairs, with bloody results. Following a shooting, there's blood on the floor and walls. Frank coldly shoots a man on the street (hole in head visible). Flashback shows Frank shooting someone while saying he's a "gentleman." Frank beats a man at a party in his home, then blows up over the blood on his white carpet. Skeet shooting; brief shots of a boxing match.
  • sex false5 Sex: Prostitutes stroll New York streets. Dancers in a Bangkok bar show cleavage and sexy behavior. Women's naked breasts are visible as they work to process drugs. Brief, rowdy sex scene in a kitchen; a couple of scenes show kissing (Richie with a stewardess). Men appear in bars and clubs with multiple girlfriends and sex workers who show cleavage in tight outfits. Frank and Eva kiss passionately, though the act is mostly covered up by her long hair. Frank is massaged by a woman naked from the waist up.
  • language false5 Language: Much profanity, including nearly 100 uses of "f--k" (some with "mother"), as well as plenty of uses of "s--t," "ass," "damn," and "hell." Also several uses of the "N" word -- sometimes between friends, other times used in a derogatory way.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Coca-Cola, Ford Mustang.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Pervasive drugs (opium, heroin, pills, marijuana, cocaine) and drinking. Nixon appears on TV, denouncing "drug abuse." Drinking in bars (some in Southeast Asia, where the atmosphere is decidedly seedy), at parties, on the streets, and in hotel rooms. Frequent cigarette and cigar smoking (reflecting the 1970s setting). Images of heroin transportation (by sacks and bricks), production, and use; needles shown on tables and in arms (a bloody needle in one shot); cocaine and heroin snorting.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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