American Gangster (2007)

Denzel Washington is imperious as the Seventies Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas in Ridley Scott’s cocksure crime thriller. Charting Lucas’s domination of the heroin market during the Vietnam War and his investigation by honest cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), the film features an enthralling final face-off. Cuba Gooding Jr provides ample support as crime boss Nicky Barnes.