Ridley Scott's new movie, starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, is well worth seeing. The story of the rise and fall of an infamous drug kingpin, it's set in Harlem in the late 1960's and early 70's. One of the most amazing things about this film is the sheer number of different sets, all lavish in detail and seamlessly set in their time. I'm guessing that this movie cost around 100 million dollars, and you can just about see that spent in the 2.5 hours on screen, as scene by scene plays out. Here and there, the history of the era develops, as fashions change, color tv replaces b&w, microwave ovens appear ("they re-arrange the molecules!"), Vietnam explodes and dwindles, chain stores replace mom&pop, hard-core drugs decimate the inner city.
Particular attention is placed on Frank Lucas' (the aforementioned gangster) notion of drug dealing as business, complete with a brand name (his mix of heroin) and the economics (paying protection money to crooked cops), and his character tries to justify it at several points in the movie. This is somewhat balanced by shots portraying the destroyed lives of junkies and, ultimately, by Crowe's character calling out Frank directly on the tremendous swath of misery he has caused.
It's hard to determine how much of the story is true. The article and interview with the real Frank Lucas (linked above), which was the basis of the screenplay, leave the impression that some of the details may be the result of tall tales (and there is no mention of a climactic gun battle / raid), but the broad outline of the story seems to be supported by facts.
