American Gangster/Layer Cake

Double-bill of gangster films. In ‘American Gangster’ (2007), when his boss dies, underworld driver Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) seizes his chance and begins to build his own criminal empire. Utilising the bodies of dead US soldiers, Lucas begins importing heroin direct from South-East Asia, increasing purity on the street, and undercutting his rivals in one swoop. Before long he’s amassed a fortune, bringing him to the attention of maverick policeman Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), an honest cop in an otherwise corrupt force, who makes it his business to shut Lucas down. In ‘Layer Cake’ (2004), ‘X’ (Daniel Craig) is a successful, smooth-talking cocaine dealer – respected among London’s crime elite – whose plan is to bankroll enough cash to make an early retirement from ‘business’ and lead a quiet, crime-free life. He sees the opportunity to make a final score when big crime boss Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) asks him to track down Charlotte Ryder (Nathalie Lunghi), the wayward daughter of his old friend Eddie (Michael Gambon). But complicating matters are two million pounds’ worth of Grade A drugs, a neo-Nazi sect and endless ‘layers’ of deals and double-deals…