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Starring
Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Director
Ridley Scott

Year
2007

Genre
Crime

Synopsis
Ridley Scott and Oscar winner Russell Crowe team up again in this taut and gritty crime drama, with Crowe starring as Detective Richie Roberts, an honest cop battling drugs and police corruption in 1970s New York. Featuring excellent performances, the powerful screenplay by Oscar winner Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List") is based on a true story.

Oscar winner Denzel Washington stars as Frank Lucas, a charismatic drug dealer who builds a huge empire by importing enormous amounts of top-grade heroin from Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and becomes the main focus of Roberts' investigations.

Support cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal, John Hawkes, Rza and Ruby Dee. The soundtrack features Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Staple Singers, The Rascals, Louis Armstrong and Public Enemy.

The Facts:
Frank Lucas was convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics and sentenced to 70 years and Federal authorities confiscated over $250 million of Lucas's assets in US and foreign banks; 30 members of Lucas's family were convicted of drug trafficking and imprisoned, his wife returned to Puerto Rico and his mother to North Carolina; Lucas and Robert's collaboration led to the convictions of three quarters of New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency; Roberts left the Prosecutor's Office to become a defense attorney. His first client was Frank Lucas. Lucas's cooperation earned him a reduced sentence to 15 years. He was released in 1991.

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