Like many moviemakers (and watchers), Mr. Scott loves his bad guy too much. And by turning Lucas into a figure who seduces instead of repels, an object of directorial fetishism and a token of black resistance, however hollow, he encourages us to submit as well.
MANOHLA DARGIS, The New York Times
the movie, which goes to the heart of America's obsession with success as a killer instinct.
Peter ravers, Rolling Stone
Mr. Scott nails the connection between faith and force, with scoundrel Lucas literally trying to use religion as his last refuge. Much of American Gangster feels false. From gangsters complaining about the rise of Japanese products in the late Sixties to the insinuation that the United States Army coordinated drug trafficking, the picture suffers in credibility.
Scott Holleran, BoxOfficeMojo
Denzel and Russell can't save 'American Gangster' from feeling like just another Hollywood mob job.
David Ansen, NEWSWEEK
