It's billed as being based on a true story, but real life cops close to American Gangster drug lord Frank Lucas say the movie is more of a fairy tale than true life.
"They claim it's based on a true story," New York-based Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Sullivan told the New York Post. The officer was at a raid on Lucas' Teaneck, N.J., home after two members of the Mafia ratted the drug lord out. "His name is Frank Lucas and he was a drug dealer - that's where the truth in this movie ends."
Lucas, whose character is played by Denzel Washington, admitted to sources that "only 20 percent of the film is true."
Hollywood's version of true stories are expected to have some elements of creative license, but one cop close to the action said it's the studio's depiction of Lucas as being a family man of moral character, that he takes the biggest issue with.
"The parts in the movie that depict Frank as a family man are ludicrous," the real-life Richie Roberts told The Post. Roberts' character is played by Russel Crowe in the film. "They did it for dramatic purposes, you know, to make him look good and me look bad."
According to Roberts, who prosecuted a New Jersey case against Lucas, the dealer wasn't the modest dresser and straight-dealing business man that the movie shows viewers. Roberts called the scene showing Lucas holding hands with his family in a Thanksgiving prayer "sickening."
Sources said Lucas manipulated his family members, moving them from North Carolina to work for him and even putting a hit out on his own brother.
Cops and prosecutors who worked the case said the flick distorts Lucas' role in Harlem's drug scene, and is riddled with untruths, like the involvement of rogue cops and the shipping of heroin in Vietnam caskets.
Lucas was sentenced to 40 years in a 1975 federal case, but only served seven. He claims to have made hundreds of millions of dollars off the drug game and stands to make more money off his story.
American Gangster, crushed the competition at the box office this weekend, bringing in $46.3 million - the highest ever for a modern crime movie. - and further lining Lucas' pockets.
Because he was convicted before the "Son of Sam Law" was enacted, Lucas can make money from his stories of drug exploits.
With a feature film under his belt, the former drug lord plans to merchandise his story with a video game a clothing line and he's in talks for a sequel to the film.
http://sohh.com/articles/article.php/12929I know I know, you're absolutely SHOCKED a film would spice up and ignore historical facts. It's interesting here because there has been a bit of talk about whether this film "glorifies" these shady characters. In a recent interview Ridley Scott described Frank Lucas, the drug lord the film is based on, as a sociopath. Yet some of the negative reviews seem to argue the film attempts to turn him into a good guy, and as the article says law enforcement members are saying the same thing.
I'm not pulling any type of race card, but I always find it interesting that critics hail films like Goodfellas and Godfather while alleging that films like New Jack City or even Juice "glorify" street violence. It's as if people are more accepting of one form of crime than another. Personally, I don't see any of those films as "glorifying" a certain lifestyle. My mom once told me that drug dealers are the absolute nicest people you will ever meet, and I found out for myself when I met a couple of my cousins. But the fun and good times don't last. Eventually that lifestyle will claim you, one way or another. Goodfellas, Godfather, and the other films all depict these highs and lows.
At the end of the day that lifestyle is nothing to envy, which is why I've always wondered why people think Scarface is an "inspirational" movie; yeah it's a story of someone going from nothing to something...but at the end he's in a pool of blood with lead in his back. There's nothing "cool" about destroying your community through selling drugs either. My parents saw American Gangster a couple days ago, and while they both loved it, my mom had a very strong emotional reaction to it; she was alive during that time, and lost 15 cousins to drugs during the 70's and early 80s.
